SWARTHMOOR Social gained their first Bay FM West Lancashire League Division Two win of the season with a committed performance against Furness Cavaliers on a lovely playing surface at Park Road.

The club have done a lot of work to upgrade the facilities, but there was no change in the names of the key players, with top scorer-over the last few seasons Graham Wilcox netting both the goals and Rikki Gallagher also back at the club.

After Cavaliers had started brightly, keeping possession well, it was Gallagher who set up Wilcox for the opening goal in the fourth minute.

The score became 2-0 after 15 minutes when Cavaliers tried and failed to execute the offside trap and Wilcox was on hand to score again.

Jordan Hughes pulled a goal back with a header from a Tom Heap cross as Cavaliers tried to recover from the earlier setbacks.

Before half-time both sides had goals ruled out for offside.

Ryan Rodgers thought he had equalised after Ben Tiffney’s long-range effort hit the bar, and at the other end Wilcox was denied his hat-trick by the linesman’s flag.

In the second half, Cavaliers dominated possession but failed to create any clear-cut chances and were unable to force an equaliser as Swarthmoor hung on to gain their first points of the season.

Also in Division Two, Walney Island slipped to a third defeat as they lost 2-1 at home to CMB.

After the visitors took an early lead, Connor Carson equalised from the penalty spot, but a late goal sealed Walney’s fate while the derby between Millom and Furness Rovers was postponed.

The Division One table continues to make pleasant viewing for GSK Ulverston Rangers as they sit top after drawing 1-1 at Poulton to maintain their unbeaten start.

Jack Gardner put Rangers ahead, but the home side managed to find an equaliser and deny Gav Butler’s side all three points.

Hawcoat Park got off to a flying start at Hurst Green, with Pat Allington scoring in the first minute and eventually ran out 3-1 winners thanks to a Carl Pearson penalty and an injury-time goal from Nathan Reid.

Askam United twice led at Tempest United through Kyle Jefferson and Mikey Thomson but had to settle for a point from a 2-2 draw.

Two early goals were enough to do the damage for Dalton United as they lost 2-0 at Haslingden St Mary’s.

In the Premier Division, Vickerstown made a great start at Longridge Town with Andy Higginson scoring after six minutes but the home side managed to get back into the game and eventually won 4-1.

Crooklands Casuals slipped to a fifth straight defeat as they lost 2-0 at home to Euxton Villa. It was an eventful game with three penalties awarded, the first of which was saved by Cassies’ keeper Lewis Woodend.

Dave Mansergh went close to opening the scoring but saw efforts hit the bar and the post, however the visitors went ahead on the stroke of half-time from the penalty spot. To make matters worse, Sean Wharton was given a red card for conceding the penalty.

In the second half Crooklands were given a lifeline when they were awarded a penalty but the Villa keeper saved it and Euxton made it 2-0 in the 82nd minute to wrap up the win.

There was no shortage of effort from Crooklands, who will hope their fortunes change sooner rather than later.

Holker Old Boys’ great start to the season ended with a bang as they lost 4-1 at home to pre-season North West Counties Division One title favourites Barnton.

It looked good for The Stags when Dave Swarbrick opened the scoring midway through the first half, but the visitors responded to lead 2-1 at the break. Two goals in the last 12 minutes ensured Holker’s 100 per cent start was over and they now have a free week to recover before returning to FA Cup action against Dunston UTS.

The Furness Premier League season started on Saturday with six games taking place in the Riflemans Garage Premier Division and GSK Ulverston Rangers reserves followed in their first team’s footsteps to top the table.

Player/manager Andy Butler started his reign with a goal in a 5-2 win over Holker Old Boys reserves, with fellow debutant Reis Sharp also on target.

Sam Pinnegor put in a man-of-the-match performance, scoring a hat-trick that proved the difference between the two sides. Will Booth and Ben Rebello replied for Holker.

Stuart Walker’s start at Hawcoat Park reserves was equally impressive as they won 3-0 at Askam United reserves thanks to goals from Sam Jefferson, Brandon Collins and an own goal.

Furness Cavaliers also won 3-0 as Swarthmoor Social reserves learned that they need to be clinical if they are to survive in the Premier Division.

Jamie Wright put Cavaliers ahead just before half-time, but Swarthmoor missed good chances before a wonder strike from Mike McGoldrick and a well-struck free-kick from Scott Linklater earned Cavs the win.

Champions Barrow Celtic began their title defence with a 2-0 win over Furness Rovers reserves thanks to a brace from Rob Johnson.

Jackson Round put Vickerstown in front with a quality 20 yard curler against Haverigg United but Stephen Robinson equalised and the game finished 1-1.

Bootle and Britannia played an entertaining game at Millholme that the home side just edged, winning 2-1 thanks to a 90th-minute Joe Capstick goal.

Bootle took the lead from a curling free-kick by Matthew Clarke, but Sean Darby got Britannia level.

The Brit played the last 15 minutes with 10 men as Connor Robinson was injured after all three subs had been used, with the winning goal coming following a collision between Brit’s keeper Josh Tranter and centre-half Damien Thompson that allowed Capstick an easy tap-in.

Wednesday night sees seven FPL games taking place – all these games kick off at 6.15pm. The only local West Lancs side in action tomorrow are Vickerstown, who visit Slyne with Hest.