Due to work commitments and illness it was a depleted Heaton Stannington squad that travelled to bottom of the league club Esh Winning. There were three changes from the Brandon starting eleven and the club were only able to name two substitutes, one of which was long serving goalkeeper Shaun Backhouse and the other being new signing Jordan Ray. Having won their last six league games, and lying joint top of the form table, the Stan were still expected to extend their winning run.

The first chance of the game however fell to Esh Winning when Sinclair rose above the Stan defence to head over the bar following a free kick floated in from the left. This early attack lifted the home side and they created a couple of half chances that could have caused problems with better luck. One of which, a free kick taken from just outside the penalty area struck the defensive wall and narrowly went past the post for a corner.

Heaton settled better after this and Anthony Johnson, making his first start after returning to the club, had a good run down the left and crossed to Wright whose shot was easily saved by Dean Caris in the home goal.

However Wright made amends just before the half hour mark when he was given far too much room in the penalty area following a corner kick and shot home from ten yards out. Just two minutes of the second half had elapsed when Wright struck again to make the score 2-0 to the Stan. Chasing a through ball he muscled out two Esh Winning defenders to score again, giving him his eighth league goal in five games since returning to the club last month.

The home side had a brief spell of superiority following this and they were rewarded when the referee awarded them a penalty for a foul on Lee Blades, which skipper Karl Turner struck home strongly. The match then descended into a bad tempered affair with three Heaton players and one Esh player being cautioned.

But it was man of the match Jon Jon Wright who had the final say when his persistence in not being knocked off the ball led to him being upended in the penalty area. The spot kick decision was an easy one for referee Mark Ryan to make and Wright scored to record his hat-trick and put the club into fourth place in the league.

Stan Team: Rule; Hoggins (Ray); James; Stoddart; McGarrigal; Wear; Telford; Dixon, G; Wright; Dodsworth; Johnson, A.

Sub not used: Backhouse.

Goals: Wright 29, 47, 85*

Yellow Cards: Wear, Dodsworth, Gary Dixon.

Attendance: 36.

Ken Rodger