Pulford hold nerve

PULFORD showed nerves of steel to book their place in the second round of the Chester & District Junior League Under 16s Duke of Westminster Cup.

The hosts broke the deadlock when Tom Davies headed in Mike Kelly’s corner before Vicars Cross Dynamos restored parity through a Tom Blaycock own goal. A super Kelly strike put Pulford back in front only for Matt McCann, with a clever lob over Ketan Dhital, to make it 2-2.

Then it was all about the cool heads of man of the match Rory Benson, Will Clark and Kelly as they fired Pulford to a 3-1 penalty shoot-out success.

Inspired by MoM Joel Howard-Davies, JFC Boughton (Charlie Everall 2, Ryan Farrell, Jordan Fulton) came from behind to win 4-1 at Malpas & District.

Ben Keable and Zak Threadgold shared the strikes and Gary Cripps was MoM as Christleton Newscene won 2-0 at home to Upton North.

Elton Youth (Joshua Jones, Steven Potts) are also through after their 2-1 triumph at Hope Farm Hotspurs. Mitchell Jarvis was Elton’s MoM.

Upton South were 6-0 winners at Newton Athletic but battling Blacon Youth Whites (MoM Tom Maloney) fell 4-1 at home to Bunbury Youth.

Saughall Colts’ season is well and truly up and running following their 7-2 home romp over Chester Nomads in the first round of the Under 15s Duke of Westminster Cup.

Jeff Norris (4), Elliot Seville (2) and Robert Nicholson did the damage as Danny Brockhurst was named Saughall’s man of the match. Matthew Jones and Mason Brandrick replied for Nomads, for whom Matt Cooper and Tom Johnson stood out.

JFC Boughton (Matthew Gilmour 2, Liam Blake 2, Sion Brisbane) won 5-0 at Westminster Park and joining the Bishops’ High School outfit in the last eight are Park Saints after their 6-0 home success over Newton Athletic Eagles.

Saughall Colts’ bid for double Under 14s glory is on after they won their Duke of Westminster Cup first-round clash at home to Upton 4-0.

Luke Munday opened the scoring with a penalty before Sam Davies bagged a brace. A brilliant Dean Houston free kick sealed it for Saughall, for whom MaCauley Newell was man of the match.

Heroic in defeat

GOALKEEPER Sam Evans and captain Spencer Rogers produced heroic displays for Saughall Colts in their Under 12s Duke of Westminster Cup 9-0 first-round defeat at Waverton Wasps.

James Davies (3), Harrison Lawson (2), Jonathan Ollson (2), Brenden Clegg and Rhys Spain netted for the Wasps, for whom Joe Nuttall was man of the match.

JFC Boughton progressed with a 5-1 home win over Princes Villa, Waverton Bees won 2-0 at Hope Farm Rangers while Malpas & District edged it 2-1 at home to Waverton Bees.

Kieran Atkinson blasted five goals as JFC Boughton sealed their place in the Under 12s Duke of Westminster Cup second round with a 9-0 home victory over Vicars Cross Dynamos.

Joe McDermott, Joe Lamb and Kyle Cooper were also on target for Boughton, whose Tom Merrell won man of the match.

Westminster Park (Mohamed Saleh, Harry Rowlands) needed penalties to knock-out visiting Chester Nomads Colts after the tie ended 2-2. Saleh, MoM Liam Eldridge, Jack Dixon, Sam Owens and Dino Rantos took the spot-kicks for Park, who had goalkeeper Joseph Brackenbury in outstanding form.

Newton Athletic, courtesy of Corey Jones (3) and Kai Oldfield, were impressive 4-1 home winners over Princes Villa but Blacon Youth went down 3-1 at Malpas & District in spite of a MoM performance from James Lloyd and a fine goal from Danny Cowley.

Saughall Colts (Sam Jackson, James Winskill, Scott Cobden, MoM Matty Sutch 2, Matthew Leek) won 6-0 at Newton Athletic Eagles while Vauxhall Motors (Harry Deponeo, Matty Walker 2, Kamen Martin, Jack Hannigan), driven on by MoM Ellis Williams, triumphed 5-1 at Castrol Athletic.

Treble not enough

JOEL Nevitt’s hat-trick was not enough to stop Malpas & District from falling to a 4-3 home loss to Castrol Athletic in the first round of the Under 13s Duke of Westminster Cup.

Vicars Cross Dynamos (Kieran Carney, Joe Wainwright, Zacc Caveney 2, Jack Gough) are through, though, after they just got the better of Waverton Bees 5-3. Callum Peplar was man of the match for hosts Vicars Cross.

Westminster Park went down 7-2 at home to Princes Villa with Chris McCartney and MoM Calum Spencer reducing the arrears.

Chester Nomads Colts were 5-0 winners at Hope Farm Hotspurs while Chester Nomads powered to a 9-1 victory at home to Upton. Also through are JFC Boughton, who eased to an 8-0 home success over Newton Athletic.

Under 13s Division One leaders Waverton Wasps are searching for more outfield players. Contact Mark Wilkinson on 07976 294070 or Graham Frost on 01244 332498 if you are interested.