Mellor hit cup rivals for six
ADAY of league, county cup and league cup competition enjoyed a day of excellent weather and plenty of lively action.
In the Manchester Amateur Cup division one title favourites Moorside Rangers entertained cup holders Failsworth Dynamos and put on a fine display but their endeavours brought no rewards.
Failsworth opened the scoring on two minutes with a neat lob over Rangers keeper Gilligan.
For the remainder of the game Rangers pummelled the Failsworth goal hitting the bar and the posts on several occasions.
The Failsworth keeper also had an unbelievable game and would not be beaten, making many saves including a crucial one from a penalty on 70 minutes.
He was finally beaten on 85 minutes but the goal was ruled out for offside.
The Dynamos rubbed salt into the Rangers’ wounds when they curled in a free-kick on 90 minutes to make it through to the semi-final.
The other Manchester Amateur Cup game saw Old Stretfordians thirds have their memorable run in the competition ended as they were well beaten 6-0 at AFC Middleton.
Delayed Rhodes Cup action saw Premier division title contenders Mellor ease through with a 6-0 won over Old Ashtonians.
Ashtonians gave as good as they got but after getting the lead with a neat finish from Liam Miller, Mellor showed their class and determination.
Tintwistle Athletic are also through but the Premier division side were taken all the way before scoring the only goal of their game at division three Chadderton Park.
Santos enjoyed a comfortable 5-0 win over Hargreaves with the game turning in favour of Santos with two first-half strikes from Aaron McDermott and Keith Kurpas.
Hargreaves were made to rue missed chances in the second half as Adam McKinney (two) and Anthony Duffy completed the Santos naphand.
The other cup action saw Moorside Rangers seconds through in the Hellawell Shield with a 4-1 win at Didsbury fourths.
In the Premier division Whalley Range increased their lead at the top to 13 points as they were comfortable 5-1 winners at Abacus Media but Mellor now have five games in hand on the leaders.
Parrs Wood Celtic stay in third spot despite being held to a 1-1 draw in their local derby at South Manchester who had Jaye Rushton providing their point-saver.
At the other end of the table Newton picked up three vital points in a thrilling 4-3 win over fellow-strugglers Bedians.
Etuk bagged a hat-trick for Newton with the vital fourth goal coming from Woolley as Bedians hit back with strikes from Burton (two) and Alex Porter.
The other game in division saw Rochdalians win 3-1 at High Lane.
In division one leaders Signol Athletic missed the chance to go clear of Moorside Rangers as they lost their local derby at Stoconians by the odd goal in three.
This was an excellent hard-fought game throughout and after Stocs had taken an early lead Signol had a penalty saved.
Both sides had numerous chances but Stocs were the only team to take advantage as they doubled their lead on 30 minutes.
The end-to-end play continued throughout the second half and with ten minutes left Kai Taylor rose high to head home for Signol leaving Stocs hanging on desperately to their slender lead of the last ten minutes- again being indebted to their keeper for some fine saves.
Newton Heath stay in the mix with a 9-2 cruise against Swinton FC and Trafford United increased Salford Vics relegation worries with a hardearned 3-2 win while Didsbury pulled off a fine 3-1 win at in-form Old Strets to ease their relegation threat.
Division two’s longtime leaders Waterloo are losing their big lead as they went down for the second successive game by 3-2 at title rivals Mellor seconds who moved to within three points with three games in hand.
Hooley Bridge Celtic continued their hot streak with a 6-3 win over Staly Lions to keep up their hunt of Waterloo.
Whalley Range seconds stay in the mix as they won 4-2 at AFC Oldham.
It is still all to play for in division three with leaders Chorltonians seconds keeping a clean sheet with a 3-0 win at Heaton Mersey provided by goals from Tom Gannon (two) and Joel Badger.
Didsbury seconds stay a point behind the leaders with a game in hand after a tight 3-2 win over Newton Heath seconds.
Dan Power and Scott Waugh put Heath 2-1 to the good with Ben Heron replying for Didsbury.
Then in a dramatic finish Jan ‘Zlatan’ Adby and Paul Barnes with another super-strike took Didsbury across the line.
The other game in the division produced the same score-line in favour of Cheadle Hulme Athletic against Manchester Polonia.
Chorltonians Rovers rule the roost in division A with a comfortable 6-3 win over Mellor thirds coming via strikes from Scott Verrigotta (two), Mike Marshall (two), the legendary Pat Davin and Dom McLaughlin.
Hollingworth took advantage of a 3-1 defeat for Whalley Range thirds at Bury Ams seconds to move above them into second place with a 3-1 win at Moston Brook thirds.
The other games in division saw Stoconians seconds win 2-1 at Aldermere and Signol Athletic seconds were 5-1 victors over AFC Oldham seconds.
There was a shock 2-1 defeat for division B’s runaway leaders Abacus Media seconds at Bedians seconds but they still enjoy a 12-point lead over Tintwistle Athletic thirds who walloped Rochdale Galaxy 10-3.
Plenty of goals in division three as Spurley Hey seconds took full advantage of leaders Oldham Vics seconds having no game.
Hey won a local derby against AFC Stockport by 6-2 to take over at the top by a point,
Also in the frame are Manchester Rovers after a breathless 4-3 win over Stoconians thirds and Salford Vics thirds who won by the same score against Moston Brook fourths.
The Lancashire and Cheshire AFL is now ready to receive applications to join the league for the 2017/18 season and to find out more or to apply the contact is secretary Brian Davies on email secretary@landc.org.uk.