KENDAL County's fixture survived amid Saturday's welter of postponements because of waterlogged pitches and they seized the chance to go back to the top of the table in the Talbot Insurance Westmorland League courtesy of a 3-0 home win over Appleby.
County got the start they wanted with an opening goal after 10 minutes when Ollie Wilson flicked on a ball through the middle for Ryan Wallace to lash a first-time volley into the Appleby net.
For the remainder of the first half, however, County reverted to stereotype for this season, in that they made life difficult for themselves as they created tempting chances but failed to finish them off.
County continued to dominate the exchanges in the second half with Appleby's only real chance coming with a one-on-one with the keeper which was well-saved by newly-recruited Adam Hornby, who was making his debut after joining the club from Milnthorpe Corinthians.
County brought Craig Walmsley on for Wilson and he set up the second goal, chipping a free-kick over the wall for Peter Nicholls to fire into the far corner of the net and they made the points safe when Paul Gratton's corner picked out Phil Hodgson for a trademark header at the back post.
Appleby keeper Crawford was their best player and made several good stops to keep the scoreline down.
Windermere gained a welcome 3-1 victory at Coniston in the Lakes derby, only their second win in seven league games so far, and it offers hopes they can climb out of the relegation places.
Windermere went ahead within two minutes of the start when a cross from Callum Thwaites found James Parkinson who beat a defender and slid the ball to Andy Ford, who fired in from 12 yards out.
Twenty minutes later, Windermere went further ahead when Phil Gavin's corner reached Matt Parkinson and he raced through the defence and slotted home.
Coniston were facing an uphill battle when it became 3-0 before half-time. A mazy run from Windermere's Warwick Pickering saw him beat three defenders only for the last one to bring him down and up stepped Thwaites to plant the penalty into the left corner.
Early in the second half, Windermere missed gilt-edged chances for James Parkinson and Andy Ford to tie things up.
Instead Coniston earned a penalty late on to make it 3-1 and although Windermere had a man sent off for a second yellow card, it could not detract from a well-deserved win.
In the Second Division, Burneside ran out 6-0 winners over Victoria SC after applying pressure throughout the 90 minutes.
Eventually Burneside broke the deadlock overcoming a stubborn Vics defence well into the first half when Will Gunning robbed the ball from the keeper and calmly put it into the net.
Vics held the score to 1-0 at half time, but were overwhelmed in the second half, a forced substitution for Burneside saw Gary Bigland replaced by Jimmy Ellwood, whose initial contribution was a low-driven 40-yard shot rebounding off the post for the pursuing Gunning to be brought down in the penalty box.
Leigh Ellwood, the younger of the Ellwood brothers in the Burneside team, despatched the spot kick with a ferocious left-foot drive giving the Vics keeper no chance.
Burneside pressed the advantage with three further goals.
The third came after a huge kick from keeper Tom Bush was latched on to by Martin O'Sullivan, who rounded the keeper and loosed a goal-bound shot which Gunning poked home to claim the goal.
Burneside's fourth and fifth goals came from rejuvenated veteran striker Paul McKnighton, substituting for Martin O'Sullivan, both his goals being tap-ins after runs from third substitute Dan Britten.
Burneside's sixth was the pick of the bunch with midfielder Tom Selby striking home from 20 wards to cap a good all-round performance.
Burneside's three teams played, their Reserves suffering a 9-2 defeat at Division 3 leaders Carvetii Utd and their Academy team lost 4-0 at home to Kendal Celtic Res.
Westmorland Under-18s are hosts to Sheffield and Hallamshire U18s in the Association of Northern Counties Youth Competition at Netherfield's Parkside ground on Saturday (2pm kick-off).
Westmorland Junior Cup, first round: Holme Athletic 2, Kirkby Lonsdale Rangers 1.
Division One: Carleton Rovers v Kendal Town Reserves (postponed); Coniston 1, Windermere SC 3; Kendal County 3, Appleby 0; Penrith Rangers v Ambleside United (postponed); Staveley United v Wetheriggs United (postponed).
Division Two: Burneside 6, Victoria SC 0; Dent v Ullswater United (postponed); Greystoke v Kendal County Reserves (postponed); Lunesdale United v Kendal Celtic (postponed).
Division Three: Carvetii United 9, Burneside Reserves 2; Grasmere 1, Sedbergh Wanderers Reserves 2; Northbank Carlisle Reserves v Ibis Reserves (postponed).
Division Four: Burneside Academy 0, Kendal Celtic Reserves 4; Shap Reserves v Coniston Reserves (postponed); Windermere SC A v Staveley United Reserves (postponed).
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