A MAJOR shock took place in the quarter-finals of the GUARDIAN Cup as Premier Division high flyers Halton Borough were wiped out by Division One leaders Winwick.

Winwick, leading 4-0 at half-time, went on to win the tie 6-1. Carl Greenwood snatched a hat-trick, Darren Mather weighed in with a brace and veteran Steve Chester also got on the scoresheet while Halton's late consolation effort came from Carl Pye.

Their reward is a semi-finals tie against the winners of Moorfield and Whiston Cross, who play this weekend.

With second placed Eagle Sports going down 1-0 at home to Greenall Whitley and leaders Whiston Cross winning by the same scoreline against Daten, the St. Helens based side have opened a 14 point gap at the top of the Premier Division table.

Moorfield moved off the bottom thanks to a Kevin Jones strike in their 1-0 success over Halebank. Sidac now occupy the basement spot.

Crosfields struck five without reply at St. Michaels. A Mark Caven hat-trick led the way with others from Steve Saunders and Andy Astley.

In Division Two, Fearnhead made it 14 wins out of 16 with a 3-1 success at Runcorn Villa, their strikes coming from Steve Bate and a double from Andy Sharkey.

Division Three leaders Irlam Catholic Club struck six at Croft while nearest challengers Penketh Utd gained an important 2-1 victory against Houghton Arms. Stuart Cunliffe regained netted both.

Another two for Clock Face's young starlet Marc Craig and one each from Frank McDonald, Kevin Fate, Ricky Walton and Barry Schofield gave them a 6-1 win at Dallam but special mention for captain Barry Davies who, with his educated foot, laid five of the goals on.

Steve Orford gave Safeways the lead in their back to back fixture with neighbours Black Bear but a second half equaliser meant that the spoils were shared.

Halton's third and fourth teams lost 3-1 to Sidac Social third and Eagle third respectively, their consolation efforts coming from Alan McCready and Neil Rowlands.

There were some Reg Oliver Cup games played. Crosfields Reserves beat St. Albans Reserves 6-1. Dave Williams led the way with a hat-trick while there was one each from Dave Hoyland, Gary Webb and John Jones.

Fearnhead's quartet of Mike Garcia, Jonathan Brennon, Paul Ellis and Mike McEvoy were all on song in their 4-3 win at Wood Albion Reserves.

A double from Moorfield's Roy Finney and one from Mark Edwards gave them a 3-2 victory over Runcorn Albion Reserves.

Halton Borough's B team have booked a semi-final place in the Liverpool Intermediate Cup by overcoming Aigburgh PHA 2-1 in a replay, Michael Higginson being the hero by grabbing both goals.

In the Northern Cup, Mark Leicester's Spartak went through to the next round with a 5-0 win over Formby Sports Club. Dave Meir struck a treble with Geoff Howard and Mark Kennedy also netting.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.