Cheetham Men 0 - Kendal Men 1....

KENDAL came within an ace of relinquishing their top spot in North West Division Five.

For the first 20 minutes Kendal were under constant pressure and keeper Josh Chacko had his busiest spell of the season so far.

Although Francis Tidmarsh and Martin Boyd played superbly to thwart the Cheetham forwards, Kendal seemed unable to clear the ball.

Gradually the tide turned but Kendal's forward line looked frail and lacked the threat of previous games.

Their best chance came from a penalty corner, well struck by Rob Bradshaw but equally well saved by the diving keeper.

In the second half Tim Nobes was brought on to beef up the Kendal defence and his ability to strike the ball from a free hit began to give longer periods of relief.

One Nobes' clearance went the length of the pitch and when Cheetham took the hit-out too casually, Russ Miller made a deft interception, danced round two defenders and slotted the ball to Steve Barclay who calmly put it beyond the advancing keeper.

Miller, after a quiet first half, then made a succession of penetrating runs while Nick Davies had a superb rising shot saved.

With seconds to go the ball was passed to the Cheetham skipper, who swung his stick back to strike as the home umpire blew the final whistle. Chacko downed tools and watched as, too late for the scorecard, the ball whistled in to the net.

Windermere Men 8 - Didsbury Northern 5th 0...

HIGHLY-motivated Windermere eized the opportunity to head NW Division 8 by beating pace-setters Didsbury Northern 5ths. Windermere impressed from the start and the tempo of their passing and eagerness for the ball soon had the visitors in trouble.

Mark Hartnett literally launched himself to connect with a cross for the first goal and went on to complete a deserved hat-trick.

Midfield maestro Steve Heyns also bagged three, two from penalty corners and another with a fine reverse stick shot on the run. Sam Crompton and Scott Santamera also got on the scoresheet, Crompton with a rising shot from an acute angle, and Scott from close range.

To add to their misery, Didsbury conceded an own goal.

Windermere played some of their best ever hockey in an irresistible first half that gave them a 5-0 lead.

Didsbury were forced to pull everyone back to try to stay in contention and the dominant home defence again provided the springboard for a constant stream of attacks that left Didsbury visibly in disarray.