North West Counties League: Striker twice on target to secure derby spoils
Matt Hearsey scored twice to help Stafford Town make a winning start to the season with an eventful derby victory over Eccleshall.
Sam Lynch had two good chances to open the scoring for hosts Stafford before delivering the cross which Hearsey converted to make the breakthrough, two minutes before half-time in the North West Counties Division One South clash.
Eccleshall’s day then got worse when Jamie Turner was shown a straight red card by referee Robert Slinger for an off-the-ball offence.
Yet the visitors had the perfect chance to get back into the match when they were awarded a penalty, 18 minutes into the second half, when Hearsey brought down his man at a corner.
Keeper Dan Cooper made the save and Hearsey, having almost been the villain at one end, grabbed his second of the match six minutes later to make the points safe. Josh Wilson’s free-kick fell perfectly for the striker in the box and he made no mistake from close range.
Eccleshall will get the chance to quickly rebound when they host Foley Meir on Wednesday night in their first home match of the season.
Stafford are also back at home, with Wolves Sporting Community the visitors on Tuesday night.
