St Helens Combination

IN a nail-biting finish at Sutton Manor, 'keeper Stu Haycock was the hero for Leach Lane when his penalty save in the last minute of extra time put his side into the second round of the Tom Worrall Cup with a 2-1 win over Pilkington A.

Meanwhile, in second round games Bowling Green went out 4-1 at Grosvenor Park; Cowley Hill Park Res beat Rainford NE Res 7-4 with goals by Geoff Mooney (3), Phil Slater (2), Chris Leyland and Ian Murphy; but the Cowley Hill Park senior side were bundled out 9-1 by Billinge Res. Brothers Alan and Brian Roll scored for Bull &Dog to account for Gerard Arms Res 2-0, while Nogs Head went through on penalties following a 2-2 extra time deadlock with Prescot Leisure Res. Neil Wright, Mark Leigh and Paul Norman scored the goals for Sportsmans who won 3-0 at home to Carborundum and two goals each from Steve Corns and Paul Kelly sent Clock Face M Res through 4-2 against Haydock.

In the second round of the DH Griffiths Cup Gerard Arms progressed into the next stage with a hat-trick from Mike Clancy helping them on their way to a 4-2 win over Billinge. Eccleston United were again below par and this cost them their tie at Clock Face MW, Brian King (2), Lee Hollinghurst and John Roby scoring in a 4-1 win. Another game going into extra time was the Sidac Social v Carr Mill tie. Goals from Derek and Carl Pilling, Simon Lukas, Paul Atherton and Alex Stevens just giving Sidac the tie 5-4.

Earlestown eventually got their Northern cup tie under way, but were eliminated 2-1 at home to Blackburn-based Witton Albion.

Penlake slipped up badly in the Premiership title race when they were beaten 4-3 by a reassured Nutgrove performance, goals coming for Nutgrove from John Ogden, Gary Highton, Mal Hayes and Tony Jones. Goals by Gary Benyon, Paul Hopwood, Gary Bennett, John Grady and Steve Kenny saw the impressive Shoe outfit beat Old Congs (Haydock) 5-0. Tom Bogan (3) was again on song for College St Helens as he, along with Rob Dillon (2) hit the goals to give the students a 5-2 home win over East Sutton Labour.

Rainford NE and Junction were even for 40 minutes at Rainford, but the home side were finally taken apart by the lively Graham Billinge, who hit three. Others followed from Ian Bate and Brian Shaw in a 5-0 scoreline.

In Division One Rifle were surprisingly beaten 5-2 at home to Hardshaw Argyle.

The Sunday Division matches saw a Paul Houghton goal settle the game 1-0 in East Sutton Labour's favour against title rivals York. Owns Corning enjoyed a home 3-1 defeat of Bleak Hill Rovers and Penlake went to Sutton Heath Panthers and came away with a 3-2 away win.

Midweek game start this week to try and bring the fixture backlog down. Games from Saturday and Sunday programmes will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays until the end of the season.

Second division clubs have been asked to note that Deaf Sports and Social Club have resigned and will no longer figure in fixtures.

Saturday, March 24

DH Griffiths Cup 2nd: Gerard Arms 4 Billinge 2, Clock Face Miners 4 Eccleston Utd 1, Sidac Social 5 Carr Mill 4.

Tom Worrall Cup: 1st round: Leach Lane 2 Pilkington A 1. 2nd round: Grosvenor Park 4 Bowling Green 1, Cowley Hill Park Res 7 Rainford NE Res 4, Cowley Hill Park 1 Billinge Res 9, Gerard Arms Res 0 Bull & Dog 2, Prescot Leis Res 2 Nogs Head 2, (Nogs won on penalties) Sportsmans 3 Carborundum 0, Travellers Rest 4 Clock Face Res 2.

Northern Cup 3rd round: Earlestown 1 Witton Albion 2.

Star Premier Division: College St Helens 5 East Sutton Lab 2, Shoe FC 5 Old Congs (Haydock) 0, Nutgrove 4 Penlake 3, Rainford NE 0 Junction 5.

Division One: Rifle 2 Hardshaw Argyle 5.

Sunday, March 25

Sunday Division: East Sutton Labour 1 York 0, Owens Corning 3 Bleak Hill 1, Sutton Heath 2 Penlake 3.

FIXTURES

Saturday, March 31

Star Premier Division: East Sutton v Sidac Social, Rainford NE v Carr Mill, Gerard Arms v Billinge, Junction v Nutgrove, Penlake v Eccleston United, Old Congs v College St Helens.

Division One: Carborundum v Gerard Arms Res, Hardshaw Argyle v Broad Oak, Earlestown v Rifle, Billinge Res v Sportsmans, Hammer v Prescot Leisure Centre, Cowley Hill Park v Travellers Rest.

Division Two: Cowley Hill Res v Rainford NE Res, Owls Nest v Bowling Green, Pilkington A v Bull & Dog, Clock Face Res v Grosvenor Park, Bold Miners v Leach Lane.

Sunday, April 1

Sunday Division: Bold Miners v York, Rose & Crown v Ex-Services U, Bleak Hill Rov v Deaf Sports & Soc, Penlake v East Sutton Labour.

Tuesday, April 3

Premier Division: Sidac Social v Shoe, Rainford NE v East Sutton, Junction v Billinge, Nutgrove v Gerard Arms, Eccleston United v College St Helens, Carr Mill v Old Congs.

Division One: Carborundum v Rifle, Clock Face v Prescot Leis Res, Travellers Rest v Hardshaw Arg, Gerard Arms Re v Sportsmans, Billinge Res v Broad Oak, Hammer v Earlestown.

Division Two: Owls Nest v Bold Miners, Pilkington A v Clock Face Res, Grosvenor Park v Ramford Rngs, Bowling Green v Cowley Hill Res.

Thursday April 5

Sunday Division (kick-off 6.15pm)

Bobbies Lane v York, Rose & Crown v Owens Corning, Ex-Services U v Bleak Hill Rov.