Hesketh Bank returned to action after last week’s postponement with a tough visit to champions elect Charnock Richard who eventually overcame them with three second half goals.

Manager Evergreen welcomed back Stefan Dill in goal and Tommy Toth who took his place in midfield but was without the services of forward David Hogg who was still injured.

On a lovely spring afternoon and with a good surface it became apparent early in the game that Hesketh Bank were quite happy to let the home side have plenty of possession in areas of the pitch that would not cause any problems. Indeed most of the first half saw neither keeper have much to do although Dill was forced to make a save after 12 minutes when Charnock’s leading goalscorer Carl Grimshaw got clear on the right. On the stroke of half time a Jamie Wynne header from a free kick fell to the feet of skipper Tony Sergeant and he missed from close range although a linesman’s flag for offside spared his blushes.

Any hopes of the visitors getting a result were quickly extinguished early into the second half as Charnock capitalised on a couple of mistakes to take a two goal lead. David Fisher picked up a loose ball in midfield a minute after the break and set up Grimshaw who made no mistake from 12 yards. Five minutes Mark Woods charged down a Dill clearance to add a second. Hesketh Bank needed to change their game plan and substitute Lewis Saunders had a glorious chance to reduce the arrears on the hour mark but shot wide. Try as they might the visitors did not unduly worry the home side and Grimshaw completed the scoring after 80 minutes to give his side a 3-0 victory.

After the match it was confirmed that Charnock Richard’s nearest challengers had lost and so with four games still to play they were champions for the 4th year on the trot. Meanwhile Hesketh Bank’s relegation fight continues with a home match this Saturday against Longridge Town which kicks off at 3pm.

Hesketh Bank AFC

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