WINNINGTON Park were made to pay for making a slow start when they suffered a first defeat of the season.

They fell behind to a scrappy opener at Colwyn Bay in the North West Men’s League’s top-flight last weekend before Paul Stackhouse’s drag-flick hauled them level.

A short-corner routine led to the home team restoring their lead before the break and they added a third at the end of a counter-attack after the Northwich side had wasted opportunities to equalise.

Winnington Park 2nd 2-1 Colwyn Bay 2nd

Dan Connah scored a decisive goal for Winnington Park’s seconds against their Colwyn Bay counterparts with time running out at Sir John Deane’s College.

They had taken the lead in the first-half when Mark Leigh converted from a short-corner before their guests restored parity through an unstoppable deflection.

Park stayed on the front foot, and were rewarded when Connah netted.

Neston 7th 3-1 Winnington Park 3rd

Goalkeeper Tim Wylie’s man of the match performance kept the visitors in contention away to Neston’s sevenths.

They struggled to make an impact at the other end, save for when Liam McKee applied a finishing touch to a well-worked move on the left, and played catch-up for the most part.

Shane Sutton almost claimed an equaliser at 2-1 only for Neston’s net-minder’s stick to block his shot on the line.

Winnington Park 4th 2-6 Neston 6th

Mark Scarisbrick scored inside 60 seconds to boost Winnington Park’s fourths but they soon trailed after conceding twice.

Ryan Whalley and Nathan Gee then combined effectively to tee up Tom Howard for a leveller, only for Neston’s sixths to nick a third goal before the break.

They added three more afterwards to run out convincing victors.

Fixtures

North West Men's Hockey League

Week Four

Saturday, October 13

Division One: Winnington Park v Bowdon 3rd (3pm, Sir John Deane's College)

Division Four South: Bowdon 4th v Winnington Park 2nd (111.45am)

Division Seven South West: Winnington Park 3rd v University of Chester (1.30pm, Sir John Deane's College); Warrington 2nd v Winnington Park 4th (3.15pm)