Patience a virtue for forward-thinking Mason

The Division One side lost 3-1 at home to Holker Old Boys Reserves, with Faryl Foster getting two for the visitors and Sol Stanway clinching the win despite Danyil Prudnickov’s early goal.

It was the only game in Division One that went ahead and Mason praised the hard work of those who were down at the club on Saturday morning, doing everything they could to ensure the game would go ahead.

The Turton boss had a balanced take on Saturday’s game, and now wants to turn good moments into consistent displays across a whole match.

“We’ve wanted more points on the board and today, we were the better team in the first half.

“We’ll draw on the positives from the first half because in the second we weren’t so good, but we’ve got to learn from those moments and play for the whole 90 minutes.”

It’s been a tricky first few weeks for Turton at times but Mason is hopeful of turning those disappointing results into inspiration for improvement.

“It’s been a slow start to our season, one of the slowest I’ve known since being involved in football to be honest.

“Some of our players were away in August and we were having to play very young lads in our team who are 16 or 17, which is tough in men’s football.

“There’s been tough moments this season but I take them as positives because they are learning opportunities.”

Mason, who has had a long-term association at Thomason Fold, has been in post at Lancashire’s oldest football club since May 2024, having previously led the reserves side.

“Being a Bolton lad, and having strong ties with Bolton Wanderers and also this club, it’s a huge honour to manage such a historic club.

“I’ve got a young squad with many players between 17 and 21 years old, we do have to be patient but there’s a long term plan and we’re on the right path.

“Mistakes will be made but we will learn from them and we will look to improve all the time.”

It’s an exciting time for the club as it starts the next phase of a long term plan that has several young players and teams at the heart of it.

“There’s been quite a lot of transition at the club, we’ve now got an under 17s, under 18s, an under 23s and two senior sides so this past summer there’s been many moving parts.

“We want to progress as much as we can but it takes time.

“I’m so optimistic about the future, I watched the under 17s this weekend and was encouraged by what I saw.

“We’ve got lots of players involved, and we’ve had new coaches also coming into the club as well because we need to make sure they are of the quality to deliver the sessions to the players.

“We’ve got an agreement with the cricket club across the road, Edgworth, where we go in after the game, they’re also helping us with sponsorship.

“The pitch and the ground generally are looking in good nick and that’s going to improve all the time with the agreements we’ve got going forward.

“It’s all coming together at quite a pace but it’s also about making sure we improve as a team too, we’ve got a good core group.”

In the Premier Division, Cleator Moor Celtic were 2-1 victors at Burscough Richmond thanks to goals from Leo Brennan and James Bell.

Whitehaven came from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 at Poulton with late strikes from George Frampton and Robbie Swinburn bringing things level.

In Division Two, braces from Ethan Brough and Danny Hadcraft gave Thornton Cleveleys Reserves a 4-1 win over Walney Island.

Meanwhile, top of the table Fulwood Amateurs Reserves rescued a point late on against Mill Hill in a 2-2 draw and Hawcoat Park secured a 2-0 win over Langho with second half goals from Rhys McKenna and Matthew Pickering.

Reserve Division One saw a seven-goal thriller as Eagley Reserves got their first three points of the season in a 4-3 victory over Chipping Reserves.

Blackpool Wren Rovers Reserves have gone top after defeating the team who started the day at the summit, Lostock St Gerards Reserves, 2-1.

Tempest United Reserves beat Turton Reserves 4-1 with all four of their goals coming in a blitzing nine-minute spell towards the end of the first half, while CMB Reserves and Haslingden St Mary’s Reserves drew 2-2.

The only game still standing in Reserve Division Two on Saturday was a convincing 6-1 win for Thornton Cleveleys A over Pause United Reserves.

Many West Lancs League sides were involved in cup action on Saturday.

Starting with the first round of the Lancashire Amateur Shield, Blackpool Wren Rovers ran out 6-3 winners at Elton Vale, Tempest United saw off Denton Town 4-3 while in an all-West Lancs tie, Freckleton beat Galgate 6-2.

Lostock St Gerards beat Bolton United 2-1 while Slyne with Hest triumphed on penalties after a 1-1 draw at Bolton County.

Hesketh Bank and Croston Sports have exited the competition following away defeats to Pennington and Rochdale Sacred Heart.

Meanwhile, in the Westmorland Senior Cup’s opening round, Milnthorpe Corinthians blew away Braithwaite in an 11-4 win while Kendal United were 3-2 winners at Calthwaite.