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Club officials unanimously decided at our October League Meeting to donate £250.00 to Heartbeat in memory of Jim Bryson who died on 31 August.

Jim, who had served on the management committee of the league for 43 years, was a keen supporter of the Heartbeat (the League’s adopted charity) and he was instrumental in raising a substantial amount for them in recent years.

Picture shows League President Dave Carlisle making the donation to Louise Bache, acting CEO of Heartbeat.

Eamonn McNamara.

It is less than a month since we reported on league champions Hunters beating their closest rivals Ingol Rangers 5-3 at UCLan Sports Arena and after the game their manager David “Dixie” Dawson told me that he had his eyes on the biggest prize of all, the LFA Sunday Trophy. Today they had the opportunity to reach the 4th round and a tie against crack Blackpool side Blackhurst Budd when they met division 2 side Arkwrights in the 3rd round tie postponed last week.

Well things did not go to plan for the London Road based outfit as they were put to the sword 6-4 by a rampant Arkwrights who can certainly play football and any deficiencies in the side is made up for by an outstanding team spirit and camaraderie. This is only Arkwrights second season in the league and they reached the last 8 of the Sunday Trophy last term so the warning signs were there for all to see.

There is no doubt that Hunters boss Dixie Dawson will have done his homework in his own meticulous way so perhaps he was let down by some of the best players in Preston who he had assembled in his squad. One Hunters fan told me that some of the team gave the impression that they had won the game before a ball was kicked so there is a brutal lesson to be learned there.

Hunters lead 1-0 and then 2-1 before Arkwrights wrested control at 3-2, then then 4-2, 5-3 and finally 6-4. Having watched the first half of the Preston Victoria v Brown Cow Olympic game, I arrived some 10 minutes into the second half with the score 5-3 to Arkwrights but there was no doubt that Hunters looked the stronger and were having most of the possession.

With 17 minutes to go Hunters Adam Thomas completed his hat trick to make it 5-4 and the dreaded penalty shootout was looking a distinct possibility. However, with six minutes remaining and on one of their rare forays into the Hunters half the ball was collected by Mark Taylor and dispatched into the Hunters net and that effectively put the result beyond doubt. Dee Edmonds and Adam Thomas (3) scored for Hunters with Mark Taylor (4) and Aiden Davis (2) on target for Arkwrights. At the final whistle Dixie Dawson was the first to compliment his opposite number Mike Kinsella saying, “Congratulations, your lads were fantastic today and thoroughly deserved their win, best wishes for the next round”.

Preston Victoria ensured we had at least 4 teams in the last 16 of this seasons LFA Sunday Trophy when they beat Blackburn Sunday League side Brown Cow Olympic 7-2 at Frenchwood and they now have a home tie against Shawdale FC. This victory cannot be understated as Brown Cow had won 4-3 at premier division Theatre Boys in the last round. Preston Victoria marksmen were Arrondale Richards (3), David Hankin (2), Sam Wilson and Lloyd Balazs.

A number of our youth teams were in action in the LFA U18s Youth Cup and the scores to hand show that BAE Warton had a terrific win 4-3 against the strong Elton Vale side who always feature in the latter stages of this competition, Alex Gibbons, Noah Fluss Tramontanto, Matthew Van Wyk and Cian Menzies scored for BAE and Padiham had an excellent 6-0 win against Woodbank Juniors with Ellis Hayhurst, Kuda Chingwaro (3) and Callum Newton scoring for Padiham.

Round up and photos by Eamonn McNamara.

The draws for the 2nd round of the Syndicate Trust Challenge Cup and the 1st round of Syndicate Trust Presidents Cup were made on Friday 13 October by Mike Williams, Managing Director of Tagtronics Limited of Darwen and they are as follows;

SYNDICATE TRUST CHALLENGE CUP - Round 2 (Holders: Ingol Rangers FC)

Penwortham Town	v	Acregate Lane LC
Theatre Boys	v	Gregson Lane Wanderers

Ties to be played on Sunday 29 October 2017.

Byes(14): The following teams have a bye to round 3 of the Challenge Cup;
AFC Ingol, Ashton on Ribble, Ashton Villa, Bamber Bridge Town, Bamber Bridge United, Bolton Lads & Girls Club, Fulwood Rangers, Hunter, Ingol Rangers, Preston Victoria, Springfields, Tanterton, Tulketh United & Vernon Sports.

SYNDICATE TRUST PRESIDENTS CUP - Round 1 (Holders: Tulketh United FC)

Earnshaw Bridge	v	Kingsfold
Gregson Lane	v	Leyland Orient
Lostock Hall	v	Ribbleton Wanderers
Southport & Ainsdale Amateurs	v	Fishwick Rangers
Tarleton Corinthians	v	BAE Warton
Walton Athletic	v	Worden Rangers

Ties to be played on Sunday 29 October 2017.

Byes (10): The following teams have a bye to round 2 of the Presidents Cup;
AFC Longridge, Arkwrights, Leyland Athletic, Sir Tom Finney, Walton, Warton, Waverley Park, Westhoughton, Whittle Wanderers, Wyresdale Rangers.

Eamonn McNamara.

The draw for the 4th Round of the Guide Security LFA Sunday Trophy has thrown up an intriguing tie, providing League Champions Hunters negotiate their way past Arkwrights (Division 2) in their delayed 3rd round game they will face top Fylde Coast side Blackhurst Budd at London Road.

Holders Southport & Ainsdale Amateurs hit the road again, this time to meet Winstanley Warriors and Ingol Rangers travel to Blackpool to meet Bloomfield Brewhouse who squeezed past Ashton on Ribble 4-3 in the last round. If Gregson Lane Wanderers beat West Park Wolves in round 3 they will head to Blackburn to meet Mill Hill and if Preston Victoria beat Brown Cow Olympic in round 3 they will have a home tie against Shawdale.

The full draw is :

Bloomfield Brewhouse	v	Ingol Rangers
Crown Paints	v	Station Lytham
Highfield	v	The Saddle
Hunters or Arkwrights	v	Blackhurst Budd
Mill Hill	v	Gregson Lane Wanderers or West Park Wolves
Preston Victoria or Brown Cow Olympic	v	Shawdale
The Wellington	v	Broomheads Estate Agency
Winstanley Warriors	v	Southport & Ainsdale Amateurs

Ties to be played on Sunday 29 October 2017

Eamonn McNamara.

Tanterton expected a tough encounter when they hosted Crown Paints from the Blackburn Sunday League in the LFA Sunday Trophy and they were comprehensively beaten 6-1 by the team who lost to Southport & Ainsdale Amateurs in last season’s final.

The Tanterton back room staff had worked hard to make the pitch playable and they were rewarded when referee Mark Moore gave the match the go-ahead. However, before the Tanny supporters had finished their bacon butties they found their favourites a goal down after just 3 minutes thanks to a penalty converted by Ryan Steele.

Not good and one got the feeling that this was going to be a long morning as the Darwen lads laid siege to the Tanterton penalty area … and the game wasn’t five minutes old. But hold on, up pops the old head John Stead to level matters on 6 minutes so maybe things weren’t as bad as they looked. Unfortunately, they were as Crown Paints promptly retook the lead two minutes later from a deflected own goal and if it hadn’t been for the heroics of Damien Ellison in the Tanterton goal they would have been out of sight by half time. As it was Jamie Edwards scored for Crown on 43 minutes to give them a 3-1 interval lad.

Second half strikes from Anthony Lynch on 67 minutes and two more from Ryan Steele on 72 & 76 minutes to complete his hat trick gave a well-deserved 6-1 victory to the Crown side managed by Halifax Town player Dave Lynch and they will have a big say in the destination of this year’s Sunday Trophy. And what of Tanterton, well they can play better than this and they have done on many occasions but not today when they were no match for the fast, efficient and well organised Crown side.

The holders Southport & Ainsdale Amateurs travelled to Prestley (Manchester) and won 3-0 thanks to goals from Kevin Edgar (2) and Daniel Bowden and Ingol Rangers beat Craven Heifer (Blackburn) 7-1 via Lee Ashcroft (3) Ryan McKenna (2), Jonty McDonald and Zac Wilkes. However, Bamber Bridge United lost 7-1 to Broomheads Estate Agency, Acregate Lane were beaten 2-1 by The Wellington and a Dom Case hat trick could not prevent Ashton on Ribble going down 4-3 at Bloomfield Brewhouse.. The other LFA games were either postponed or the scores were not in at the time of going on-line.

Ashton Villa beat Springfields 4-3 in the only premier division game played whilst in division 1 the big game between leaders Tulketh United and second placed Bolton Lads & Girls Club ended in a 2-1 win for Tulketh who agreed to switch the game to Bolton after their pitch at Mill Lane had been called off. Jay Ralphson score for Bolton with Aamir Toorawa and Arron Porter earning the points for Tulketh. Vernon Sports find themselves in second place in division 2 following their 3-1 win at Walton and Sir Tom Finney beat second placed Waverley Park to extend their lead in division 3 to five points.

Youth division Red leaders Bolton County were held 2-2 at Burscough Dynamo, Padiham won 4-3 at Southport and Winstanley Warriors beat Lostock St Gerards 2-0. BAE Warton beat Eccleston & Heskin 6-2 to lead Youth Division White with Winstanley Warriors Reds who won 5-2 at Garstang, Foxhall won 3-1 at Broughton Amateurs, Fleetwood Town Rangers beat Ribbleton 9-1 and Wyre Villa won 1-0 at Poulton.

Round up and photos by Eamonn McNamara.