TWO STRIKES in the last five minutes snatched a 2-1 victory for Kendal Town Reserves that had looked an unlikely scenario for most of an up-tempo derby in the first division of the Talbot Insurance Westmorland League.

Kendal County had looked in control for the first half, and for most of the second, although they only had Simon Park's 25th-minute strike to show for their efforts. Park latched on to a Peter Nicholls' flick-on that caught the Town defence square before rifling in his shot.

Town competed hard but robust defending from the County back line kept them out of the home penalty box until they began to put their passing game together in the second half.

County still threatened but risked being hit on the counter-attack as Town's Kevin Pickering demonstrated when put through only to fire wide.

The turning-point came when County keeper Richard Flaherty's ankle-ligament trouble flared up after catching an innocuous high ball.

Although he soldiered on for a while, Christian Hoyle eventually came on in goal and the new keeper drew applause with two instinctive saves, one diving effort to deny Cross and then saving off his legs in a goalmouth scramble.

Town, meanwhile, changed things up front with a double substitution as Steven Ellwood and Dave Regan replaced Pickering and Pooley, As the game moved towards added time, County threw on veteran Brian Fleming and he missed a chance to wrap up victory when the ball landed at his feet in front of goal and he ballooned it over the bar.

Instead Town found the key to unlock the County defence when keeper Nicky Dent came up to the halfway line for a free-kick, which he lofted into a crammed penalty box. County failed to clear and the ball was knocked back across goal for Cross to hook in the equaliser four minutes into added-on time.

Town had County rocking and, two minutes into stoppage time, Regan intercepted Shaun Palmer's misdirected pass for Aplin and produced a through ball for Ellwood to race on to and apply a clinical finish to Town's glee, and County's disbelief, the whistle going immediately soon after the restart.

A much-improved perform-ance gave Appleby a 2-0 win over Staveley United.

After only six minutes Appleby were a goal up when Gavin Sowerby passed to Ben Greenhow, whose clever flick-on reached Tony Johnson and he crossed for David Nugent to outpace two defenders and slide the ball home.

Appleby added a second before half time when Greenhow dribbled his way into the area where he was brought down for a penalty award, which John Coward tucked away.

Appleby controlled for long periods and only some brave saves from Staveley keeper Tim Wood kept the score down as Appleby man of the match Steve Wharton marshalled his midfield well.

Sowerby and Johnson both played well and Andrew Lees and Craig Nelson were impressive at the back.

In the second division, full-strength Burneside took on a depleted Endmoor and ran out 5-0 winners with the winners' stand-in keeper Tom Bush having little to do.

Leigh Ellwood headed Burneside ahead and there were further goals from Martin O'Sullivan and Tom Selby for a 3-0 half time lead. O'Sullivan scored the pick of the bunch, hooking the ball over the keeper at the front post for the fourth and 16-year-old Dan Britten's darting run to beat two men on the right wing set up a cross for Gary Bigland to drive home the fifth.

Lunesdale United came away from Dent with a hard-earned point in a 4-4 draw, seven of the goals coming before half time.

Mike Wilson gave Lunesdale the lead but Dent took advantage of several free kicks near their penalty area to take led 4-3 with Darren Potter hitting a stunning 25-yard strike and Andy Lockhart on target for Lunesdale.

Early in the second half Luke Jackson made it 4-4 and Lunesdale might have snatched a last-minute win but the shot slid just past the post.

Results: Division One: Appleby 2, Staveley United 0; Kendal County 1, Kendal Town Reserves 2; Ambleside United v Coniston (postponed); Ibis v Windermere SC (postponed).

Division Two: Burneside 5, Endmoor KGR 0; Dent 4, Lunesdale United 4; Kendal Celtic v Keswick Reserves (postponed) Windermere SC Reserves 2, Victoria SC 4; Ullswater United v Kendal County Reserves (postponed).

Division Three: Penrith Rangers Reserves 1, Burneside Reserves 0; Sedbergh Wanderers Reserves 3, Ambleside United Reserves 0; Shap v Northbank Carlisle Reserves (postponed); Carleton Rovers Reserves v Ibis Reserves (postponed); Carvetii United v Greystoke Reserves (postponed).

Division Four: Burneside Academy 2, Carvetii United Reserves 7; Coniston Reserves v Dent Reserves (postponed); Endmoor KGR Reserves 2, Shap Reserves 2; Lunesdale United Reserves 2, Penrith United 4; Staveley United Reserves 3, Windermere SC A 1; Wetheriggs Utd A 6, Kendal Celtic Reserves 1.