BILLINGE made it two wins out of two after coming from behind to win 3-2 away at Egerton on Saturday.

A glorious Saturday afternoon in Cheshire was met with a similarly beautiful start by Billinge as Rob Lamont converted a rebound off the crossbar after only three minutes.

The Storks had started brightly and Lamont was the first to react stabbing home from close range as centre-half Ben Jacobson's header came back off the bar.

The frantic start soon lessened and the game settled into a more even match as Egerton came into the game and indeed began to find their way forward, forcing mistakes & errors from Billinge right across the park.

This pressure told as they equalised on 26 minutes from a well-worked counter attack and then took the lead through a cleverly worked free-kick.

It was a rocky period for Billinge as they had to take off the injured Declan Gregson who was replaced by Marios Avraam.

However it was Avraam who pulled a rabbit out the hat right on half-time.

A well-worked move down our right found Avraam on the edge of the box and his first-time strike rocketed into the keepers top left-hand corner to see The Storks go into half-time at 2-2.

The second-half was nip & took with neither side really dominating.

The game had a draw written all over it until Nial Dawson hit an exceptional 40-yard screamer to claim the three points.

The ball arrived at the feet of Dawson on the Billinge left-hand side just inside the Egerton half.

He shifted the ball onto his right foot and, noticing the keeper off his line, struck the ball like a young David Beckham beyond the despairing grasps of the keeper as it nestled into the Egerton goalkeeper's left hand corner.

It was a beauty that would have graced any league in the world and highlighted what an exceptional player Dawson is - especially as he is only around 50% fit, as he comes back from a serious injury from last term.

The Storks comfortably saw the game out but could have - and probably should have - been over completely had the referee not pulled Lamont up for a foul as he was clean through on goal.

Only the referee knows why he decided to give a foul against Lamont.

The team, although incensed by the decision, dug in to seal the three points and make it back to back wins for Billinge.

After the game first team coach Ryan Miller was happy with the result saying: "That was a big three points for the lads today against a very tricky Egerton side that will take points off a lot of teams in this league.

"Two great goals and quality in the squad got us the win."

Attention now turns to Saturday as Miller and first team manager (and director of football) Wayne Wardle prepare the players for a huge game at home to Winstanley Warriors.

This will be the first time the two clubs have met at first team level and the game at Barrows Farm, Billinge will kick-off at 2pm.

Admission is free (but we will be asking for any donations if people so wish for our Ground Development Fund), the café will be open and all Covid-19 guidance measures will be in place.

Meanwhile The Storks reserve side lost narrowly to Styal Reserves, one of - if not the - strongest team(s) in the division, 1-0.

The experienced Styal team took the lead in the first five minutes after a clumsy challenge that rewarded Styal with a penalty.

The lads struggled to get going during the early stages of the first-half making poor decisions when in possession which put the under unnecessary pressure.

Eventually the team started to play, linking-up with the wing-backs, controlled the possession and were pretty much camped-up in the Styal half without creating too many chances.

There were very good performances from all the lads with the experience of Jon Redmond and JP Sprowson helping out the younger lads who are still adjusting to the Cheshire League.

Junior Siyakholwa was a continual threat upfront while the central-defensive pairing of Aaron Turner and Fraser Hoey were absolutely superb; barely putting a foot wrong all afternoon.

After the match manager Dave Lawrenson said: "There were plenty of positives to take away from our performance and after a good post-match reflection with the team, we know what need to do better."

Next week the ever-improving reserves will be travelling to Vulcan FC Reserves for a 3pm Kick-off.