Charlie the 'king' of Brews Park as West Lancs 'hop' begins

A crowd of 388 watched at Brews Park as Charlie King’s second-half double helped Wrens to a 2-1 win over third-placed Poulton.

Tyler Hallan pulled one back with a neat finish on 86 minutes and despite late pressure, Wrens hung on to move into sixth.

Groundhop UK supremo Chris Berezai said: “It’s been a great start to the Groundhop and Blackpool Wren Rovers have done really well and been great hosts.

“We were looking at between 350-400 for the first match so we’re really pleased.

“I’ve seen a lot of Step 7 football and that was a very good standard between two good sides. I thought the match officials did really well and we’re looking forward to tomorrow!”

Wrens had the better of a cagey first half with Hayden Fleming doing well to tip Ric Seear’s goalbound volley out for a corner.

Dan Hall tipped a rasping drive over the bar as Poulton threatened but both sides went in at the break level.

Charlie King, who came off the bench just after half-time, then took the game by the scruff of the neck, scoring twice with 15 yards on 60 and 68 minutes.

Poulton’s chances of getting back in the game suffered a blow when King was on the receiving end of a high tackle which saw the away side reduced to 10 men.

But Hallan gave Poulton hope with a neat finish into the bottom corner to set up a grandstand finale.

King was denied his hat-trick by a brilliant fingertip Fleming save and despite late pressure by Poulton, Wrens hung on.

Wrens’ assistant manager Ste McEwen said: “The first half was a typical derby game and I told them we needed to up it in the second half.

"Charlie’s come on and been involved in three key parts of the game and I think we deserved the win.”

Poulton boss John Wigglesworth was deflated after seeing his side lose their unbeaten record after two successive away wins at CMB and Lostock St Gerards.

He said: “Where we were on Tuesday was at levels where you win titles. But if you step off slightly then you end up losing games so I’m disappointed.”