STAVELEY United went through to the semi-finals of the Westmorland Senior Cup, which they last won in 1979, with a heartening 2-0 win over Lunesdale United.

After looking as if they had turned the corner in the league with a couple of battling, if luckless displays pre-Christmas, they had been shipping goals recently.

So the clean sheet as much as the win was gratifying.

Second Division Lunesdale made them wait until the second half before conceding a goal and it came from the penalty spot after Tyrone Hayton had his ankles clipped by the keeper.

Gary Wilson slotted in from the spot, but Lunesdale had a penalty award of their own when Gary Bell was adjudged to have handled as he turned . Frotunately, the kick cracked the foot of the post and was scrambled away.

Bell was in the thick of it again, supplying Staveley's second goal with a good header and, with Mark Donoghue marshalling the defence well, they march on to face Kendal Town Reserves in the last four.

Second Division Burneside gave a good account of themselves to stay in contention for over an hour before finally going down 5-1 to Kendal Town Reserves in the quarter-finals of the Westmorland Senior Cup.

Town's in-form striker Kevin Pickering broke the deadlock with a well-taken strike, but Burneside were back on level term inside ten minutes when Martin O'Sullivan turned and fired into the top corner.

From Burneside's perspective, the tie started to slip away when they had to substitute Paul McKnight and Gary Bigland because of injuries in quick succession and this left them unbalanced for a spell.

Town seized the initiative and Steven Cross regained the lead with a sweetly-taken shot for a 2-1 lead after a defensive mix-up and then got on top in the second half and Pickering, who is Burneside born and bred, ended hopes of a fightback when he bagged Kendal's third.

Young Mathew Wooff got the goal of the game. The hard-working young midfielder won the ball on the halfway line and drove on to beat four men before finishing in style.

Good pressure resulted in a fifth for Town when an opposition player put past his own keeper.

Elsewhere in the cup, Wetheriggs United cruised through with a 8-0 win over Dent, who have done well to reach the last eight, and will meet Kirkby Lonsdale, the North Lancs League side who arched a few eyebrows with an 8-0 demolition of Keswick.

In the league, are flying in for Ibis. After hitting five last week, there was another nap hand as they travelled up to Carleton Rovers and disposed of them 5-1.

Although a decisive final scoreline on paper, the match was a much tighter affair in reality and Carleton were a big, strong physical side who took a fair bit of beating.

In fact, Carleton were on top for the first 20 minutes and Ibis keeper Richard Foster made a fine save from a corner to deny the home side in this crucial period.

Instead Ibis opened the scoring when Liam O'Callaghan got on to the end of a far-post cross and managed to tap the ball home.

Carleton pressed forward to stay in the contest and were caught on the break as Gary Taylor supplied a second goal and then Graham Carlos latched on to Stuart Dixon's through ball to make it 3-0.

It was not all over for Carleton got a goal they deserved to put the issue back into the melting-pot for the second half.

Teenager Ryan Ormrod came off the subs' bench and repaid the decision by scoring twice in the last 15 minutes to seal the 5-1 win, with team-mate Steve Knowles outstanding in the centre of midfield.

Coniston could not believe their luck a week ago when they lost at Appleby, having hit the woodwork three times and missed a penalty, but everything went right against Penrith Rangers this Saturday with goals to spare in a 10-0 win.

Although Coniston were without skipper John Kirkbride, the side relished the good playing surface the newish pitch offered and centre-forward David Cooper was back to form with a hat-trick, a feat also emulated by Glen Todd.

Paul Walker, back from a month's suspension, hit an unstoppable free kick and also joining the goalfest were Timmy Fletcher, Peter Blair and Norman Drinkall.

Stuart Walker and Peter Blair were also influential in a good all-round team performance. Ambleside United and Appleby shared the points in a goalless draw.

Results: Westmorland Senior Cup, quarter-finals: Wetheriggs 9, Dent 0; Kendal Town Res 5, Burneside 1l Staveley United 2, Lunesdale United 0.; Kirkby Lonsdale 8, Keswick 0.

Division 1: Ambleside United 0, Appleby 0; Carleton Rovers 1, Ibis 5; Penrith Rangers 0, Coniston 10.

Division 2: Endmoor KGR 0, Greystoke 4; Kendal County Res 5, Kirkoswald 1; Windermere SC Res 2, Wetheriggs United Res 1.

Mason & Freeman Cup, first round: Kendal Celtic 3, Ullswater United 1.

Division 3: Appleby Res 1, Burneside Res 0; Braithwaite 1, Carleton Rovers Res 2; Grasmere 0, Northbank Carlisle Res 6; Greystoke Res 2, Ambleside Utd Res 7; Sedbergh Wanderers Res 1, Ibis Res 1; Shap v Penrith Rangers Res (post).

Division 4: Burneside Academy 3, Shap Res 4; Coniston Res 0; Staveley United Res 3; Dent Res 0, Endmoor KGR Res 2; Lunesdale Utd Res 1, Kendal Celtic Res 2; Wetheriggs Utd A 4, Penrith Utd 1; Windermere SC A 3, Carvetii Utd Res 4.