STYAL crashed out of the Cheshire Cup on Saturday with a heavy defeat to West Kirby.

A poor first-half performance by a disrupted Styal side saw them outplayed by West Kirby who took a 4-0 lead at the break.

The introduction of substitutes Craig Brennon and Keith Maires at half-time saw Styal pull two back in the second half but West Kirby, who will be a contender in the competition this season, hit three to make the final score 7-2.

Styal’s reserve team continued their impressive recent run with a 3-1 win at Linotype.

A strong start saw Styal waste two early chances but keeper Alan Osborne was called upon to make some telling saves.

Styal finally broke the deadlock after 35 minutes with a goal from Duncan Warrender, following a pin-point pass from Mike Filson.

Warrender scored his second on the hour mark and, five minutes later, left-back James Moore scored the third after a jinking run.

Osborne was finally beaten with a late consolation but Styal had done enough for the win.

Styal’s A team went down 3-1 at Sale Rovers, Matty Barnes scoring their only goal.