MIDDLEWICH Town scored a goal in each half on Saturday to end a wait to win a first match since the turn of the year.

The Witches rise to third position in Cheshire League One as a reward, three points adrift of a promotion place.

And they might have led inside 60 seconds at the weekend, when Callum Priestley's speculative effort from outside the box came back off the crossbar.

He was denied from close range by goalkeeper Caine Merrick from his next attempt.

The home team fluffed a chance to score at the other end, and cursed their bad luck too when a shot from distance hit the woodwork.

Middlewich took the lead after 17 minutes, when Steve Rowlands - returning after a four-month injury absence - nudged a loose ball over the line after Priestley's header from a set piece was diverted onto an upright by a defender.

Priestley went close twice more before the interval, first when a back-marker blocked when he met James Dean's assist then when he missed the target after Mike Evans delivered a low centre from the left.

Merrick denied Priestley again in the second period after substitute Sam Stockley, making his first-team debut, had created an opening.

A second goal did arrive on 74 minutes when Jack Weedall's cross from the left was met by another replacement, Dan Holdsworth, with a header.

Middlewich will be looking for a repeat when they host Winnington Avenue in the Mid-Cheshire District FA Challenge Cup last eight this Saturday, kick-off 1.30pm.

Town Masters (GK), Whitehead, Weedall, Robinson, Yearsley, Rowlands (Stockley), Dean (Morana), Rebbeck (Goodwin), Priestley, Griffin (Maddock), Evans (Holdsworth)