Shropshire Premier League

Premier Division

Prees United 2

St Martins Village 1

Prees United kicked of the New Year with a hard-fought win in a north Shropshire derby with St Martins Village on Saturday.

The Rec Men recorded their sixth league win of the season in the cold sunshine in Prees to remain on the coattails of the top five.

Both sides were evenly-matched throughout the first half, with St Martins Village belying their lowly status to keep pushing Prees, and it was 0-0 at the break.

However, Prees were quickest out of the blocks after half-time and were 1-0 up within five minutes of the second period starting.

The Villagers were keen not to be outdone and soon levelled, showing the spirit needed to keep their season going.

But their hearts were soon broken when Prees scored the winner after upping their pressing game.

The win for Prees leaves them in sixth place on 18 points, and they will be hoping to maintain an unbeaten start to 2020 with another home clash against Hopesgate United.

Meanwhile, Shrewsbury Juniors and Wellington Amateurs Development are neck-and-neck at the top of the table, with both sides on 30 points.

However, title holders Shrewsbury are top courtesy of a better goal difference and also have three games in hand.

That goal difference was significantly boosted on Saturday when they hammered Hopesgate 14-0.

Wellington sat the weekend out but both sides are back in action on Saturday as Shrewsbury host Albrighton and Wellington host St Martins Village.

Other results from Saturday included Wrockwardine Wood Juniors beating Stoke Heath 4-2, Madeley Sports thrashed Brown Clee 5-2, while Telford Juniors beat Albrighton 2-1 in the cup.

On Saturday, Gobowen Celtic will host Madeley Sports in the league as third play fourth, and Telford Juniors will go to Brown Clee in the remaining Premier fixtures.

Gobowen Celtic hosted Brown Clee in the Premier Cup on Saturday, at the playing field, and took a resounding 6-0 win to take them through.