Cammell Laird 1907 returned to winning ways in the North West Counties Football League First Division North, as second-half goals from debutant Keegan Warrington and Jamie Eaton gave them a 2-0 victory at AFC Knowsley.

The match was played out in horrendous conditions with the onset of successive storms and torrential rain over the weekend, and indeed the home side did well to ensure this was one of the games in the region that survived the weather.

Warrington had the first serious effort on goal in the first half, which was well saved by Knowsley’s Gabriel Gray, while at the other end Charlie Young (pictured) in only his second start for Lairds made an excellent stop to deny the hosts.

The returning captain Jamie Leyland missed a great chance after a superb ball from vice-captain Joe Downey, but the scores remained goalless going into half-time.

Early in the second half, Lairds broke the deadlock when Warrington produced an exquisite chip to score on his debut. The contest shifted further in Lairds’ favour moments later when Knowsley left-back Adenya Dixon was shown a second yellow card.

However, Knowsley continued to battle hard as the conditions worsened, and Lairds had to dig deep, with Young making a couple of great saves, most notably to deny Bobby Carter.

Substitute Eaton almost wrapped it up when his lob was cleared off the line, but he was not to be denied his first goal of the season in stoppage time after a superb strike from distance.

This was an important victory for Lairds that keeps them second in the table. They now have back-to-back home games coming up against Maine Road on Saturday, 31 October, and Holker Old Boys on Saturday, 7 November.