Rhodes Cup Shock as Preliminary Round Completed

There was an upset in the Rhodes Cup as RFAITS Premier Division Abacus Media were sent packing by Division One’s Didsbury.

The game was one of a series that completed the domestic cup preliminary rounds, saw Didsbury saunter to a convincing 5-0 victory.

Rushford Park showed why they are flying high in the RFAITS Premier Division with a big 8-1 win over Richmond Rovers.

Rochdalians were also impressive in a 3-1 win at Division One leaders Oldham Hulmeians.

The Wray Cup saw four games completed, including a resounding 7-1 win for Old Strets Gregs at Abacus Media Reserves.

Moorside also had their shooting boots on as they netted three times in the first 12 minutes at Timperley Villa and kept up the momentum to ease into the next round by 5-0.

Saddleworth 3D’s passage to the next round was comfortable with a had a 4-0 win at Tintwistle Athletic Reserves but Bury Ams had to pull out all the stops to triumph 2-1 at Stoconians.

There was a tight Whitehead Cup encounter between Urmston Meadowside who hosted AFC Oldham Thirds. An enthralling encounter finished 3-3 but Oldham prevailed 4-1 on penalties.

It also went to the wire at Manchester Victoria hosting Moston Brook Fourths, who dramatically moved into he next round.

Victoria led 3-1 at the break but Brook came back well to level at 4-4 before winning the penalty shoot-out 3-1.

Didsbury Thirds had one of their best results of the season with a 4-1 win over Bury Ams B.

In the Geoff Garnett Invitational Cup, Premier Division leaders Bollington United had to work hard for a 2-0 win over a lively Mellor.

In the Keith Marsden Invitational Cup, the one remaining game saw Signol Athletic ease to a 4-0 win over AFC Stockport Titans.

Elsewhere in cup action, Moston Brook Reserves took on Bamber Bridge in the Lancashire Amateur Cup and put on a great show before losing out 6-4.

League action in the RFAITS Premier Division saw two close encounters with Manchester Rose winning a tense thriller with Trafford United by 5-4. The second half saw a wonder strike from either team, Belguy MANZAMBI for Rose (number 17 below) and Danny GILFILLAN for Trafford.

The other game ended with Manchester South End edging a 2-1 win over title chasing Chadderton Cott.

In Division One, East Manchester Galaxy reduced the lead of Oldham Hulmeians to six points, and they have four games in hand as they beat Santos 5-1.

Grappenhall Sports are out of the relegation zone after a vital 2-0 victory over Village Manchester.

In Division Two, Heywood St James Reserves scored two late goals to snatch a dramatic 4-4 draw at Old Alts Thirds. The hosts were set for victory but Heywood stunned them with those two late strikes to take a deserved point.

It was also a deadlock at South Manchester as they shared four goals with Elton Fold in another well contested game.

Two cracking games played in Division Three with leaders Fitton Hill All-Stars edging a 3-2 win over Trafford United Reserves.

It extends All-Stars’ lead over Didsbury Reserves to nine points but Didsbury have five games in hand.

It was also end-to-end at Spurley Hey who led Waterhead 4-2 at the interval but Waterhead came back well to share the spoils at 4-4.

In Division A there were wins for the top two teams with leaders AFC Salford edging a tight game 5-3 at in-form Silver Birch.

Signol Athletic were in cup action and are 11 points adrift but have five games in hand over AFC Salford.

The other game played saw Cheadle and Gatley’s young team enjoy a 3-1 win over Village Reserves.

The top two teams were in action in Division B and leaders Stoconians Reserves had to work hard for a 3-2 win at Santos U23s.

Santos led twice in the first half but strikes from the league’s top scorer Matt Theaker and Fin Atkinson just before the break drew them level.

An improved and more solid second-half performance from Stocs produced an early winner from Matt Theaker (his 40^th of the season) and they showed plenty of character to hold on to the three points.

Oldham Hulmeians Reserves stay just two points behind Stocs with three games in hand as they demolished Richmond Rovers Reserves 8-1.

The goalfest continued in the local derby between Saddleworth 3D Reserves and Waterhead Reserves with Waterhead having few problems in a big 8-3 win.