THE end of April is normally the time when local football is winding down, but due to the poor weather this season the Rifleman’s Garage FPL Premier Division still has a quarter of its fixtures left to play.

At the start of April the title race involved six clubs but after a hectic four weeks the race is narrowing down and it’s looking like being between Kirkby United and Vickerstown reserves.

On Saturday Vickerstown faced GSK Ulverston Rangers reserves who needed to win to have a chance of staying in the hunt. But after a goalless first half Vickerstown showed their dominance and ran out 3-0 winners. There were few chances in the opening 45 minutes but Mike Adams volleyed the best one over the bar from 12 yards.

The opening goal came a minute into the second half when Craig May’s cross-come-shot from the left wing ended up in the top corner. On the hour mark it was 2-0 when Steve Brennan whipped in a free-kick from the edge of the box.

Rangers never gave up but Mark Johnson was impressive in Vickerstown’s midfield and the victory was sealed when Adams made up for his earlier miss by bravely poking home the third. The result put Vickerstown on 47 points from 20 games while Rangers have 40 points from 22 games.

Kirkby United have a one-point lead at the top of the table following their 3-1 win over Britannia courtesy of a Paul Cleasby hat-trick. Tommy Dawes replied for the Brit.

Haverigg United will not be giving up hope yet after they won 2-0 at Holker Old Boys reserves with goals from John Chmiel amd Bradley Maine. One point from their last three games has probably ended Holker’s hopes though.

Haverigg are on 41 points from 21 games while Hawcoat Park reserves, who didn’t play on Saturday, have 41 from 20 games. Barrow Celtic warmed up for today’s Terry Clinton Memorial Trophy Final against Hawcoat (at Crooklands Casuals, 6.30pm kick-off) with a 2-1 win over Millom reserves. Jack Dulgnan and Rob Johnson scored for Celtic while Millom’s reply was an own goal.

Stand-in keeper Joe Wilkinson had a superb game for a depleted Swarthmoor Social reserves as they ground out a 1-1 draw with Furness Cavaliers reserves.

Both goals came from the penalty spot, Josh Price for Swarthmoor and Steve Morgan for Cavaliers.

Furness Rovers reserves and Bootle also finished 1-1. Ben Comish scored for Rovers while Josh French replied for Bootle.

Askam United reserves and Barrow Wanderers played out a 10-goal thriller with Askam coming out on top 7-3.

Wanderers’ scorers were Tommy Walmsley, Josh Holt and Kieron Mason. Croftlands Park are already Premier Tiles Division One champions and they perhaps had an eye on Tuesday’s Furness Junior Cup final as they lost 2-1 to Walney Island reserves. Chris Ivison scored for Croftlands with Josh Huitson and Brad Speake scoring for Walney, who look favourites to finish as runners-up.

The only other game played in Division One saw Vickerstown A beat Barrow Wanderers reserves 8-2. Iaian McDonald scored a hat-trick, Andrew Hammond netted twice with Matty Solsby, Dave Goodwin and Joe McMullan also on target. Jed Wilkinson and Alex Hall were the Wanderers’ marksmen.

In Division Two an inspirational half-time team talk made all the difference at Coniston reserves for Britannia reserves. It was 1-0 at the break but finished 9-0 to the Brit. Scorers were Dillon James 2, Charlie Shaw 2, Connor Treen, Tyler McPherson, Joseph Gedling, Danny Logan and Kyle Sharp. Bootle reserves came away from Railway Meadow with all three points after beating Dalton United A 4-2. Dalton’s scorers were Keith Holmes and Aaron Deakin.

On Thursday night Crooklands Casuals overcame Kirkby United reserves 3-2 to reach the final of the Horne Cup. The goals came from Terry Anderson, 2, and Tony Butler with Andrew Benson and Connor Saunders scoring for Kirkby.

Holker Old Boys’ hopes of making the North West Counties Division One play-offs faded as they lost 2-0 at Litherland REMYCA.

Holker are down to ninth in the table and their fate is no longer in their own hands.

Cartmel were unable to bring the silverware home from Kendal Town but put in a gutsy display against Milnthorpe Corinthians in the Westmorland Senior Cup final.

Goals from Sam Taylor and Matt Burrows were not enough as they lost 3-2 with ex-Premier League player Danny Coid a big influence for the ambitious Corinthians.

In the West Lancashire League it was a good day for most of the local sides who played, with only Vickerstown suffering a defeat.

Dave Round’s side lost 6-1 at in the Premier Division at Thornton Cleveleys with Sean Paterson on target, although three goals conceded in injury time meant the final score flattered the hosts.

Crooklands Casuals had the luxury of Tom Heywood missing a penalty as a Dave Mansergh header on the stroke of half-time gave them a 1-0 win over Burnley United. Mansergh was brought down earlier for the penalty that also saw a Burnley player sent, off but the numbers were evened up in the 63rd minute when Dave Goude picked up a second yellow and his marching orders. Burnley pressed for an equaliser but with Heywood and Mike Hargreaves in impressive form, Cassies held on to earn the points.

In Division One GSK Ulverston Rangers put a big dent in Burscough Richmond’s promotion hopes by beating them 2-0 at Canal Foot with goals from Ronan Simpson and Matty Lawler.

Hawcoat Park’s feint hopes were kept alive as they beat fellow hopefuls Tempest United 3-0. Scorers were Nathan Reid, Pat Allington and Mike Wilkes.

Dalton United gave themselves a chance of not finishing bottom of the table by winning 3-1 at Mill Hill St. Peters, who they are now just one point behind with one game to play. Goal machine Gareth Jones scored a hat-trick for Dalton.

In Division Two Swarthmoor Social showed they still have pride by winning 1-0 at Bolton County. An 85th-minute goal from Graham Wilcox earned them their third win of the season.

Millom were denied a win over title-chasing CMB by a last-minute equaliser in a 2-2 draw. Mark O’Brien and Ben McDonald scored for Millom after CMB had gone ahead early in the second half.