Town bounce back, but chance is lost

ROYTON Town wasted a huge opportunity to go second in the Bridgewater Office Supplies Manchester League premier division.

Aiming to repeat their title success of five years ago, the Glebe Street outfit were held to a 2-2 draw at lowly Breightmet United.

Town found it tough going at Moss Park as the home side stunned their opponents with two goals in the opening 22 minutes.

Michael Moss halved the deficit just before the half-hour mark and Town went on to dominate the remainder of the match.

The equaliser arrived 10 minutes into the second half and it seemed only a matter of time before Town would go on and claim all three points.

But Breightmet showed tremendous resilience to keep the championship contenders at bay.

Hollinwood moved into the next round of the Gilgryst Cup after a 3-2 win at Prestwich Heys, but the weather continues to thwart Springhead’s West Riding Challenge Cup tie against Golcar.

The game has been postponed on three occasions but, fingers crossed, it will go ahead on Saturday.

Springhead reserves bowed out of the Open Trophy after they were beaten 2-1 by East Manchester reserves.

Avro’s second string picked up a point in a 3-3 draw against their Rochdale Sacred Heart counterparts in division two.

Meanwhile, goals from Callum Frizzell, Carl Caffrey and Andy Eastwood sealed a superb 3-1 win for Royton Town reserves at home to high-flying Old Alts.

Hollinwood ‘A’ and Bury Amateurs ‘A’ fought out a 1-1 draw.

Results are —

Gilgryst Cup: Leigh Athletic 0, Wythenshawe Amateurs 2; Prestwich Heys 2, Hollinwood 3; Walshaw Sports 5, Gregorians 0.

Premier division: Atherton Town 4, Elton Vale 0; Breightmet United 2, Royton Town 2; East Manchester 1, Rochdale Sacred Heart 2; Pennington P Hindsford P; Stockport Georgians 1, Chapel Town 1.

Murray Shield: Stand Athletic 3, Wilmslow Albion 1.

Open Trophy: Springhead Res 1, East Manchester Res 2; Gregorians Res 0, Bury Amateurs Res 1.

Division two: Avro Res 3, Rochdale Sacred Heart Res 3; Elton Vale Res 2, Dukinfield Town Res 0; Hindsford Res 1, Stockport Georgians Res 0; Leigh Athletic Res 5, Walshaw Sports Res 0; Monton Amateurs Res 2, Prestwich Heys Res 1; Wythenshawe Amateurs Res 7, West Didsbury & Chorlton Res 2.

Division three: Gregorians ‘A’ 2, Beechfield United Res 4; Royton Town Res 3, Old Alts Res 1; Stockport Georgians ‘A’ 2, Atherton Town Res 0; Walshaw Sports ‘A’ 0, Stand Athletic Res 2; Wythenshawe Town Res 1, Breightmet United Res 2; Hollinwood ‘A’ 1, Bury Amateurs ‘A’ 1.

Diggle take point as striker’s dance routine falls flat
DIGGLE FC’S 4-4 draw in a topsy-turvy encounter against Newsome WMC will be remembered for an extraordinary miss.

Ahead inside the first 60 seconds through Matt Taylor, Steve Southern’s side proceeded to sleepwalk through the next 20 minutes to trail 3-1.

But Diggle woke from their slumbers to lead 4-3 at the end of an amazing opening period.
Taylor scored a second, Ben Goodge headed home the equaliser, before Wayne Broadbent’s deflected shot put them in front.

Talk at half-time was to protect their slender lead — which they managed to do for precisely 30 seconds before Newsome took advantage of some poor defending to draw level.

Then came that miss.

Newsome striker Jamie Jobarteh rounded ’keeper Mike Moore and, with an empty net at his mercy and for reasons best known to himself, he decided to do a jig of delight virtually on the goalline.

But Jobarteh’s moment of dance fever allowed defender Bev Mayall to get back and make a last-ditch tackle.

Diggle reserves clinched a place in round three of the FA Junior Cup with an emphatic 8-0 win over KKS Ashbrow.

In reserve division one, a sublime free-kick from Mark Jackson earned Uppermill a 1-1 draw at Meltham Athletic.

The club’s ‘A’ team were beaten 3-0 at Cumberworth in reserve division two, but Diggle ‘A’ swept aside Slaithwaite United 6-0 and Heyside thumped Scholes 9-1.

In the Works League, Chris Barlow and Phil Austin scored two apiece as Uppermill’s third team defeated Kirkheaton 4-2 while the fifths, with Phil Butterworth and Mike Taylor on target, recorded a 2-1 win over Hepworth.

Results are —

FA Junior Cup, round two: Diggle Res 8, KKS Ashbrow Res 0.

Division one: Newsome WMC 4, Diggle 4; Uppermill 2, Britannia Sports 4.

Reserve division one: Meltham Athletic Res 1, Uppermill Res 1.

Reserve division two: Cumberworth Res 3, Uppermill ‘A’ 0; Diggle ‘A’ 6, Slaithwaite United Res 0; Heyside FC Res 9, Scholes Res 1.