A RESURGENT Britannia FC progressed to the third round of the Paul Wilson Memorial Trophy with a 4-1 victory over Barrow Celtic.

The two sides battled for the Furness Premier League title last season and have struggled in comparison this term, but Britannia have now won all four games they have played since the turn of the year.

They started Saturday’s match in the best possible fashion with Kurt Robertson volleying home Sean Darby’s cross in the first minute. Celtic managed to get back level when Carl Pearson was put clear and he slotted the ball into the bottom corner.

Dangerman Darby restored the Brit’s lead, cutting in from the right wing and lobbing Celtic keeper James Sloan. Shortly before half-time Ross Walker played in skipper Liam Holmes and he made it 3-1.

Both sides created plenty of chances in the second half. Brit had three efforts cleared off the line, while Celtic also went close, but the only further goal came from Ross Walker for Britannia.

Darby was named the man of the match, his pace being a constant threat. Their reward is a quarter-final tie against Holker Old Boys reserves.

In the Rifleman’s Garage Premier Division Haverigg United missed the chance to go top, being held to a 0-0 draw by Askam United reserves.

Vickerstown reserves came from 2-0 down to win 3-2 at Barrow Wanderers. Nathan Collett and Ryan Docherty had put Wanderers 2-0 up before half-time but Vickerstown pulled a goal back through Scott Macdonald. With less than 10 minutes left player/manager Steve Brennan came off the bench to equalize then set up Macdonald for the winner.

Hawcoat Park reserves maintained their challenge with a 3-1 win over Kirkby United. Hawcoat’s scorers were Zach Walker, Carl Mackay and Jake Rees with Scott Watkinson scoring for Kirkby. With half the Premier Division games still left to play there’s a lot of twists and turns yet to come this season.

Holker Old Boys reserves are also still in the mix after they beat Millom reserves 8-1. Scorers were Spencer Erdis, 3, Callum Fawcett, 2, Jamie Cowan, Adam Hunter and Steven Gill while Andrew Woodburn replied for Millom.

In the bottom half of the table Bootle beat Swarthmoor Social reserves 3-1 at Millholme thanks to goals from Josh French, Aaron Bradley and Steven Pritt. Swarthmoor’s reply was an own goal.

Several cup games took place with some games closer than others. GSK Ulverston Rangers reserves thrashed struggling Barrow Wanderers reserves 14-2 in the Furness Junior Cup. Scorers were Josh Cronin, 4, Andy Butler, 3, Stuart Smith, 2, Peter Spence, 2, Sean Gardner, Phil Dixon and Josh Catlett.

Wanderers’ goals came from Sean Balfour and Ben Johnson direct from the kick-off.

In a well-contested game, superbly handled by Steve Houston at the Training Pitch, Furness Rovers reserves beat Furness Cavaliers reserves 2-1.

Joe Loughlin put Rovers ahead in the first minute but James Watts equalised with a great strike from the edge of the box. Jordan Wood scored the winner early in the second half. Rovers will face Vickerstown A in the next round after Vickerstown beat Bootle reserves 3-0. Scorers at Biggar Bank were Andy Hammond, Andy Hill and Iaian McDonald.

In the Horne Cup the last first round tie saw Barrow Celtic reserves beat Haverigg United reserves on penalties after a 0-0 draw. Celtic won the shootout 4-3.

Millom A were unable to raise a team for their second round tie at Crooklands Casuals reserves, who progress as a result.

Three ties did take place with Division Two leaders Ormsgill North End going through at the expense of Premier Tiles Division One side Hawcoat Park A. Hawcoat led through Jack Stilling but Ormsgill came back to win with goals from Paul Williams and Connor Bone. They had to thank Mark Turner for making two goal-line clearances.

In a good game at Railway Meadow, Holker Old Boys A beat Dalton United reserves 4-1.

Scott McCabe was on target for Dalton with Holker’s goals coming from James Curtis, 2, Connor Erdis and Jordan Nicholson.

Dalton United’s A-team also went out of the competition, losing 7-0 at Kirkby United reserves. Their scorers were Tom Harrison, Kristian Sharp, Callum White, Matty Laisby, Andrew Benson, Kieran Ottley and Neil Metcalfe.

Croftlands Park need just four points from four remaining games to secure the Premier Tiles Division One title after a 9-0 win over neighbours GSK Ulverston Rangers A.

Scorers were Matt Dean, 5, Andrew Currie, Paul Shields, Macauley Dixon and Shane Birkett. Dean has now scored 37 goals in 17 games this season.

The bottom two sides in Division Two both lost again with Coniston reserves looking destined to end their first season in the league bottom of the pile. They lost 5-0 at home to an FC Barrow Island side who will be ruing early-season point deductions. Scorers were Dan O’Halloran, 2, Jonny O’Halloran, 2, and Ronnie Crompton.

Britannia Reserves beat Walney Island reserves 2-0 through goals from Ryan Jackson and Keenan Crossman.

After a run of five games without a win, Holker Old Boys got back on track as a John Paul Stanway brace earned them a 2-1 win at Northwich Manchester Villa.

It was a good response to last week’s 5-0 home defeat to St Helens Town. The Stags are now fourth in the North West Counties Division One table with 12 games left to play. Their next game is at home to Ashton Town tomorrow.

Cartmel kept their winning run going to remain unbeaten in 2016 as they won 2-0 at Ingleton in the Sam Price Memorial Cup through goals from Steven Fawcett and Adam Harding.

Vickerstown made the most of a visit from rock-bottom Lostock St. Gerards in the West Lancs Premier Division by beating their visitors 6-1.

Danny Keenan scored a hat-trick with Sean Paterson, 2, and Rob Bruce also on target. Keenan and Bruce were also on target in midweek as Vickerstown bowed out of the Richardson Cup, going down 6-2 at the opening of Longridge Town’s new floodlights.

Also in the Premier Division on Saturday, Crooklands Casuals went down 2-0 to a goal in each half at Thornton Cleveleys.

All four local sides in Division One slipped to away defeats with only Askam United getting on the scoreboard. Ryan Brown scored in the 2-1 defeat at Wyre Villa.

GSK Ulverston Rangers lost 1-0 at Haslingden St Mary’s, Hawcoat Park went down 3-0 at Lytham Town and Dalton United lost 2-0 at Tempest United.

Dalton put in a solid performance for much of the game but their defence was breached twice in a five-minute spell midway through the second half. In Division Two there were a couple of local derbies that meant there were wins for local sides.

Furness Rovers came away from Swarthmoor Social with all three points as a last-minute goal gave them a 2-1 win. Scorers were Jack Cooksey and Liam Shields with Ben Mooney scoring for Swarthmoor. Both sides would like to wish Mike Tomsett a speedy recovery after he suffered a serious looking knee injury.

Millom just edged out Walney Island, winning 3-2 with a late goal from Brian Dawson. Millom had gone ahead through an own goal but Matt Lockley equalised for Walney, then put his side 2-1 up from the penalty spot. Danny Pattinson pulled Millom level before Dawson settled it in their favour.

Furness Cavaliers were giving title-chasing CMB a good game for 70 minutes but capitulated terribly by conceding five times in the last 20 minutes to lose 7-1.

Kyle Delves had given them hope, making it 2-1 on the half hour mark before the second half debacle.