[I]n the Cumberland FA Senior County Cup there was one midweek and one weekend third round ties, to decide the final eight places in the Quarter Finals.
Windscale battled to a 2-1 win to secure the penultimate place. Despite early Northbank pressure with Dan Gawith firing wide for the visitors, Windscale opened the scoring on 32 minutes from a Lewis Jolly volley, adding a second just one minute into the second half from a Bradley Dryden tap in after good work from Jolly and Matt Metcalf . On 50 minutes Northbank pulled a goal back through a Ricky James shot which went in off the bar. Windscale had late chances from Jolly and Dean Fox but no more goals, and won out 2-1.
On Saturday, Eden Thistle hosted Workington Athletic at Sheepmount, and the Cumberland County League champions won this 0-4 with goals from Mikey Kilgour, Ash Kelly and two from Greg Quayle. The final eight in the Quarter Finals are confirmed as Workington Reds, Pirelli FC, Penrith AFC, Aspatria FC, Cleator Moor Celtic, Netherhall, Windscale AFC and Workington Athletic.
There was just one fixture completed in the Smurfit Kappa Conway Cup and Bransty Rangers suffered a 1-3 home loss to Carlisle City, with Reece Robinson and Matthew Coombe (with 2) doing the damage for City. Bradley O’Pray scored Rangers only goal
In the Westmorland FA Benevolent Trophy, Jame Cropper Westmorland League Division Two table toppers Dent pulled off a major upset, beating Division One’s Wetheriggs United 3-1 with goals from Richard Thexton, Sam Sedgewick and Bryan Taylor. Dent have drawn Kirkby Stephen in the next round, so it will be the top team in Division Two against against the top side in Division Three. Kirby Stephen are very much a team in form and will fancy their chances – as will Dent on the back of this big win.
There was also Westmorland FA Junior Cup action, and Braithwaite had a good 1-3 away win over AFC Carlisle. BFC went  2-0 in the first half with goals from Jack Farley and Arran Graham, and despite AFC pulling a goal back, a second goal from Farley on 80 minutes secured the win. Appleby Reserves had a remarkable 4-1 over Kirkby Lonsdale, remarkable because Appleby equalised in the ninety third minute to make it 1-1 and push the game into extra time, and then won with a convincing 4-1 score with the goals from a Blake Forrester brace, Neil Dean and Andrew Butterworth. And in the Penrith derby, Castletown Utd were edged out 2-3 by Carleton Banks with the Soccermoos’ goals from Jake Briggs, Corrie Pearson and Ryan Smith and Briggs could have mad it four but missed a penalty – but no matter on the day with the win.
In Division One of the James Cropper Westmorland League, Keswick stay top, and clear by 6 points, after a hard fought 3-0 win over Sedbergh Wanderers, with captain Stevie Hindmarch scoring twice and Alfie West netting for the home side, with Hindmarch’s second goal another of his visionary strikes which are becoming a trade mark, this one a long distance effort when he spotted the Sedbergh ‘keeper off his line and fired a powerful and accurate shot from 40 yards out as Luke Cragg could only watch helplessly as the ball rocketed into the back of the net.
Second placed Appleby came away with a 2-3 away win at Endmoor KGR, with the Appleby goals from Jordan Crawford, Dan Robinson and a KGR own goal, and KGR’s replies from Alistair Wilson and Nathan Dixon.  Kendal County Reserves, who have the worst goal difference Division One, lost again, this time 1-4 at home to Windermere SC. Windermere now in sixth above Endmoor in seventh and Kendal in eighth.  Kirkoswald are third after a 7-4 win over ninth placed Ibis, with Niall Renwick scoring four for KO and Lewis Renvoize knocking in a hat trick. Ibis’s goals came from Cory Robinson, Tim Blamire, Ben Barrow and Luke Deveney. And Shap picked up another win, their second in the Leaguem with a 4-1 win over Ambleside United and this was enough to lift Shap above Ambleside in the table, with the goals from Luke Fraser and a hat-trick from birthday boy Jordan Palmer. Shap are now back in form with four wins in a row over Arnside, Endmoor, Wetheriggs and now Ambleside.
In Division Two, and having lost to Keswick Reserves 5-1 in the Junior Cup just two weeks ago, Greystoke again faced the in form Fitz Park lads at home in the League, and lost again, this time 0-3, pushing Keswick into second place in the table, equal on points with Dent and with a game in hand. Keswick’s goals were from Charlie Robson and a Dave Gaskell brace. Staveley United finally climbed off the bottom off the table with a 2-0 win over Ullswater United, and in the only other Division Two game, Windermere SC Reserves lost out 0-5 to Kendal Utd Reserves whose goals were from James Pattison, Matt Kennedy, Brett Walker, Cameron Toal-Lim and Aidan Dent.
In Division Three, Ambleside United Reserves were hammered 1-12 by Kirkby Stephen. Yes, TWELVE! Four goals down after 20 mins, Ambleside struggled to get a foothold in the game and couldn’t deal with Kirkby’s aggression, and Kirkby dominated possession, and half time saw saw the visitors 0-6 up. The second had a slower start as Ambleside threw everyone behind the ball, but another six goals followed with (deep breath) Matt Branthwaite scoring five, a hat trick for Andy Lockhart and goals for Dan Robinson, Callum Holmes, Dean Scott and a goal for Jamie Cooper who also picked up the Man of the Match award for a series of consistent and dependable deliveries from the right wing.
Ibis Reserves and Endmoor KGR Reserves played out a very entertaining 4-4 draw, with Sam Wilson scoring a hat trick for KGR and Dan Jones two for Ibis. With Ibis getting just the one point, Kirkby Stephen go top with a game in hand over second placed Ibis.  Langwathby United picked three much needed points with a 2-1 win over Penrith Academy with Academy tenth and Langathby now eighth. Lunesdale Utd had a very useful 3-1 win over third placed Kirkoswald Reserves, with Ollie Allen getting KO’s only goal, and Lunesdale are now ninth. Penrith Royal are sixth after a 5-4 win over Burneside with the home teams goal from Dane Rumney, Tom Dixon, Matty Glen, Andrew Rowlandson and Alex Jackson. Burneside are fourth.
The game between Sedbergh Wanderers Reserves and Penrith Saints was abandoned on fifty minutes after the air ambulance had to use Havera Park to land because of a serious injury to a local resident. Sedbergh were 5-0 up a the time.
In the Smurfit Kappa Cumberland County League’s Premier Division Silloth and Netherhall drew 3-3. The visitors’ goals came from Hayden Babcock, Andrew Lowes and Callum Banks, and the Seagulls’ goals were from a Lewis Little brace and Kieran Little. Netherhall are fifth and Silloth sixth in the table, which is topped by Aspatria.
At the top of Division One, Pirelli edged up on Gosforth who are in top spot with a 3-2 win over the League leaders. Pirelli’s goals were from Matt Story, Lee Otway and Aaron Roberts. Jack Denwood and Matthew Piece replied for Gosforth. Gosforth stay top, but Pirelli are closing in – they have four games in hand and are just three points behind  Crown Newlaithes lost out 0-1 to visitors Whitehaven Amateurs with the only goal from Dylan McAlone. Amateurs are sixth and Newlaithes are seventh in the table. Windscale stay rooted to the bottom of the table after losing 2-5 to UniSun Athletic. Ryan Johnson got a brace for Unisun who also had goals from Aiden Hanley, David Osbourne and Matthew Davies. Ryan Lowery scored both of the Windscale goals. Unisun are now fifth in the table.
With more postponements at the weekend, we thought we would finish with a tweet from Borough FC whose game against Whiotehaven Miners was called off: “Another postponed fixture today due to pitch being unplayable. That’s 1 game in 6 weeks. West Cumbria needs some serious investment for the long term good of local football.” We agree and it seems that with our weather now fundamentally changing, the best solution has to be 3G. And for that, Cumbria needs support across the board, a lot of goodwill, and real investment.