Stocs pull off big cup shock
Once more monsoon conditions hit the busy programme of league and domestic cup action hard causing more furrows on the brow of beleaguered Fixtures Secretary Mal Kershaw.
To their credit several teams moved their fixtures to other venues to get their games in and artificial surfaces enabled a number of games to be completed.
Rhodes Cup
The Rhodes Cup kicked off this weekend and the biggest shock came with cup holders Salford Victoria being knocked out by the odd goal in five by visiting Division Two side Stoconians.
The second shock result came at Astley Sports Village where Division Two side Dukinfield Athletic had an emphatic 6-1 win over Premier Division Milton.
Apart from those results the rest of the competition ran as possibly predicted with Village Manchester giving a good account of themselves in the first half hosting Premier division high-fliers Waterloo.
However, Waterloo had Fin Malcolm and Rob Swallow to thank for giving them an early 2-1 lead before Village reduced the arrears through Alexandru Lazar before the break, but Waterloo were not to be denied and showed their class and intent with three unanswered second half strikes.
No problems for Dom Doyle who had a comfortable 8-1 derby win at Staly Lions.
Whilst Bedians, who are enjoying a fine season in Division Two, were playing a young Hooley Bridge Celtic side. They opened their account in the first minute through veteran predatory striker Sean Chappell and then cruised to a big 9-2 win.
The other clear winners were Hadfield who kept an immaculate clean sheet as they despatched Chadderton Park 3-0 and Bury Amateurs who had to work hard for a 2-1 win at Santos, whilst Chadderton Cott repeated this scoreline at Govan Athletic.
The all-Premier Division clash between Trafford United and South Manchester ended deadlocked at 1-1 with South going through with a 5-4 win in the penalty shoot-out.
Penalties were also needed at Stockport Sports Village as Signol Old Boys and Elton Lib Hargreaves enjoyed a well-contested game that ended goalless after 90 minutes, Signol were then impeccable in the shoot-out winning 5-4.
Whitehead Cup
There were also two Whitehead Cup matches and a remarkable game saw Mellor thirds beat Trafford United reserves 9-6 in a goals-filled encounter.
It was much more comfortable for Moston Brook reserves in the other game as they cruised to a 6-0 victory over Dukinfield Athletic reserves.
League Action
League action was limited to just three games in which there were goals galore.
Division Two
In Division Two title contenders North Walkden demolished Mellor reserves 13-2.
Division Three
The only game in this division was a real spectacular contest with Signol Athletic winning by the odd goal in nine at Abacus Media reserves.
Division C
There were also nine goals in the only Division C match between Salford Storm reserves winning 7-2 hosting Stoconians fourths.
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Action from:
1. Hooley Bridge Celtic v Bedians (Bedians in all yellow)
2. Village Manchester v Waterloo (Village in maroon)
3. Signol Old Boys v Elton Lib Hargreaves – (Signol in blue)
