League and cup gets back to full action
AFTER the frustrating mass postponements in recent weeks it was back into full action with a vengeance in a rich mixture of cup competitions and vital league matches.
Premier division leaders Moston Brook travelled to Standish St Wilfreds in the Lancashire Amateur Cup and great defending saw them score the only goal of the game to march into the later stages of the competition.
But it was the end of the Lancashire Cup action for AFC Monton who went down 5-1 hosting FC St Helens reserves.
In the Manchester Amateur Cup semi-final Salford Vic’s reserves played massive local derby against De La Salle firsts.
Vics dominated the first half with Jay Carney open- ing the scoring after six minutes, Montel Clarke added a second as Vics led 2-0 at half time.
De la Salle pulled one back after 80 minutes, before equalising in the seventh minute of added time.
De La Salle went on to win the penalty shoot out 4-2, no disgrace for Vics against a team which won the L&C Premier division title two seasons ago.
There were two fixtures in the Northern Cup and Bedians hosted Lymm Rovers in a real thriller.
The game was locked at 3-3 at full-time and Bedians won a marathon penalty shoot-out by 8-7.
The other game saw Old Stretfordians host Cube FC from Bolton but they lost a close encounter by the odd goal in five.
Domestic cup action in the Wray Cup had Hillgate celebrating a rare win as they cruised to a 5-2 win over Abacus Media reserves.
In the Hellawell Shield Prestwich Marauders edged a 1-0 win over Manchester Saints.
Just one fixture played in the Premier division and it was a terrific contest at Sale Amateurs who took on North Walkden with both teams looking to put pressure on the leading group.
One of the heroes of the day was the stand-in referee from North Walkden who did a great job in letting the game flow from end to end.
Michael Schofield opened the scoring for Sale but North bagged a deserved equaliser.
Then the outstanding Kazim Waite-Jackson scored two clinical goals to put Sale in charge and North battled hard but could only reduce the score to 3-2.
Hazel Grove took over at the top of division one with leaders Bedians in cup action.
Grove demolished third-placed Bury Ams 7-0 to go a point ahead of Bedians with a game in hand.
There were two close contests with North Walkden reserves sharing six goals with Rushford Park and Mellor won 1-0 at Village Manchester.
Moston Brook reserves had few problems in a 4-1 win over Trafford United.
In division two Dukinfield Athletic drew level on points at the top with non-playing Bollington H and L with a hard-earned 2-1 win at Richmond Rovers but Bollington have four games in hand.
Spurley Hey stay in the top four with a 3-0 win over AFC Boarshaw and the other game had plenty of fizz and sparkle as Elton Hargreaves shared eight goals with FC Babylon.
JLingz continue to rule the roost in division three with a 4-2 win over Stoconians keeping them eight points clear of AFC Stockport who won a tight game at Badger Casuals 2-1.
Old Strets reserves beat fourth-placed Santos by the odd goal in three.
A penalty for Strets was the only score of the first half. The lead was doubled on the hour mark but Santos pulled a goal back from skipper Tim Gallagher and missed a late penalty to earn a point.
The other game in the division had Dom Doyle cruising to a 4-1 win over South Manchester.
Didsbury kept up their unbeaten record in division A and hit the top of the table as they were on fire in a big 8-2 win over Trafford United reserves.
Previous leaders Mellor reserves found in-form
Rochdalians too hot to handle in a 4-1 defeat.
Plenty of goals too as Moston Brook thirds beat Spurley Hey 6-1 and Manchester Rovers won 4-1 at Altrincham Hale.
The other game was tight with Signol Athletic leading 1-0 at the interval at AFC Oldham who came back with two unanswered goals in the second half.
Just two games in division B and they both involved promotion hunters
AFC Stockport Warriors won 4-2 at Barrhill to stay two points clear at the top as second-placed Timperley Villa were held 2-2 at Milnrow Firgrovia.
Goals galore in division C and leaders Sublime Athletic showed their intent with a 5-2 derby win at Saddleworth 3D reserves to stay 11 points clear of Bury Ams A.
Bury were the big-hitters of the day with a huge 12-1 win over Stoconians reserves and they have three games in hand over the leaders.
Irlam Steel Rangers Development were also in the goals with a 5-3 win at Fittonhill All Stars and Village Manchester thirds won 4-2 at Signol Athletic reserves with a 3-3 draw between Richmond Rovers reserves and Didsbury reserves completing a busy day.