THE half-term break in the fixture list for the Olympic Trophies Under 10s and U9s Cup and Shield competitions gave teams an opportunity to play some fixtures postponed earlier in the season.

Most sides are now faced with a six-game grandstand finish to secure their places at the finals day in May and all games seem to be hard fought.

In the U10s Shield the Hornets beat the Warriors 6-1 in the Westminster Park derby, but the scoreline didn't reflect the close-fought nature of the contest.

Man-of-the-match Sam Powell scored four goals with Simon Ed-holm and Tom Bowker adding to the tally. Duaine Meacock responded for the Warriors.

Upton Pumas came from 2-0 down to beat Blacon Lions by the odd goal in five. The Lions led with goals from Dylan Walker and MoM Jamie Craven before Josh Midhurst, Paul Hughes and Luke Diamond struck back for the Pumas. Ellie Ward in the Blacon goal was outstanding.

Blacon Tigers took the opportunity to take second place in the table with a 2-1 win over Chester Nomad Wolves. Matthew Jones netted for the Nomads before Ben Jones and Dylan Foster scored for the Tigers. The MoM award for the Nomads went to Freddy Green and to Rowan Brookes for the Tigers.

Lache Park and AFC Waverton shared four goals in the U10s Cup, Declan McHugh and Dale Hodgkinson netting for Lache and Ross Palin and Lawrie Crowther for Waverton. MoM for Waverton was Elliot Mazzotti and for Lache Lloyd Smith.

Chester Nomads strengthened their claim on a top-four place with a 3-1 win against a strong Blacon Youth team. nWestminster Park Tigers took an early two-goal lead in the U9s Shield through James Fowles and Yuseph Bakir, but Waverton kept their cool and two fine goals from Matthew McClelland put them level. Joe Morgan, the stand-in keeper for Waverton, pulled off some fine saves to keep them in the game. MoM for the Tigers was Henry Makings.

A storming performance brought the Upton Bobcats their first away win of the season, beating Tattenhall 2-1. Joe Kirk caught the home team napping early in the game to give the Bobcats the lead and Alex Pagett then scored a superb solo goal, running the length of the pitch before slotting the ball into the net. Tattenhall responded with a goal from Jonah Birkett, but Bobcats MoM, goal-keeper Matt Pickett, turned in a match-winning performance as the Tattenhall players pushed hard for the equaliser.

In the U9s Cup Saughall Colts lost to Upton Pumas 2-1 in an enthralling encounter. Saughall scored first when a corner from MoM Jake Jones was converted by Luke Munday.

Strong midfield play from the Pumas allowed them to fight their way back into the game with goals from Josh Dymond and from MoM Dean Goring.

Christleton Newscene beat JFC Boughton 4-0 with goals from Liam Blake (2), Tom Batten and MoM Richard Tomassen. The Boughton players kept their nerve and played some entertaining football, particularly from MoM Joe Howell.

Newton Athletic and Castrol Athletic fought out a 2-2 draw, MoM Jacob Vaughan and Chris Kerns scoring for Castrol nSaughall took a 2-0 first half lead at Lache Athletic in the U8s with both goals from Elliot Rollins who went on to complete his hat-trick in a 3-0 win.

Lache pushed hard in the second half and MoM Molly Green was outstanding in the Saughall defence.