Atherton LR 1-6 Cheadle Town

As responses to previous misdemeanours go, this was perfect.

The memories of last week's horror show at Maine Road were swept away by a tide of punishing, attacking play that brought a deserved hat-trick for Rhys Clooney, a brace for Rhys Webb and one for Liam Delaney.

We were making inroads into the LR box as early as the opening minute, forcing their defence into a series of key blocks before Liam Delaney stabbed an Abreu cross just wide a couple of minutes later.

Rhys Webb then had a go straight after, shooting just wide after cutting inside from the right before another foray into the box brought the opening goal on 11 minutes; Clooney meeting a right-wing cross with a pinpoint header into the corner of the net.

Tom Russell

The two Rhys' combined on 22 minutes when Webb put Clooney through with the latter's finish just lacking the legs to take it over the line before we stretched our lead just a minute later: good work by Ruben Abreu down the right saw him cut the ball across for the waiting Liam Delaney to drive home.

LR's best chance of the first half came just before the half-hour mark when they raced clear and looked set to round Danny Whiting but a slip at a vital moment - not his fault as the surface was on a greasy side - allowed us to hoof the ball clear.

On 35 minutes we went 3-0 ahead when the two Rhys' combined once more. This time it was Clooney feeding Webb with a threaded ball to the edge of the box where the latter took his time to pick his spot and place it into the roof of the net.

An LR free-kick did give us something to think about just before half-time which we had to hastily hack clear but we looked comfortable and very good value for our 3-0 lead....

....a lead that was extended even further on 53 minutes with an absolute beauty from Rhys Webb. 

Receiving the ball a good 35-40 yards out he advanced on goal but didn't look to have many options as he had three LR defenders for company. A few twists and turns later he opened up enough space for himself to curl a shot into the top corner that left the keeper stranded. 

Rhys Webb curls it home for Cheadle's fourth of the match

Four became five on the hour mark. A sweeping move forward made up of one-touch passing set Rhys Clooney free on the right. With the LR keeper bearing down on him he kept his head to slide the ball wide of him into the unguarded net.

Rhys Clooney about to score our fifth...

LR got themselves on the scoresheet on 67 minutes thanks to a penalty (that Danny Whiting almost got his hands to) with them also forcing Danny into a neat save at his near post on 73 minutes.

The final ten minutes of the match saw us create multiple chances to go even further ahead, all of them falling at the feet or head of Rhys Clooney.

He stabbed a Callum Knight cross inches wide and then did the same with a header from a Joe Neild cross before he finally got his hat-trick deep into stoppage time, sweeping home a cutback from Tom Ratican.

The next round sees us travel to Sandbach United on Saturday 6th October after they administered a similar hammering to New Mills. We will be able to get a feel of Sandbach this Wednesday as they come to Park Road when the bread and butter of league matters returns.

TEAM: Whiting, Neild, Wallace, Russell (Hewitt), Dunn, Shaw, Knight, Delaney (Hincks), Webb, Clooney, Abreu (Ratican). SUBS: Hewitt, Ratican, Hincks, Morrison (gk).

Job done!

Sandbach United 4-1 Cheadle Town

Damn you, half-time.

There we were, taking good care of ourselves, level at 1-1 and enjoying the lion's share of the ball when you had to come along and completely disrupt our momentum, so much so that our second half performance was as woeful as it gets thus allowing our opponents to run away with the match.

We started the first half terribly, allowing Sandbach's Jordan Davies to poke home under Whiting's body from the edge of the area after just two minutes but then got a real foothold, going so far as to earn ourselves a penalty just four minutes later.

Not for the first time this season the ultimate golden opportunity from twelve yards wasn't converted but you can't really blame Chris Sherrington; he drilled hard and low down to the corner but was thwarted by an excellent stop from the keeper.

Unperturbed we drove on. Rick Whyatt netted on 17 minutes after a clever knock-down by Luke Cotton but it was given as offside before Luke himself would draw us level ten minutes later, lashing home after a Pearson free-kick from the right had deflected into his path.

Two minutes later a superb cross-field pass from Liam Delaney found Callum Collinson on the right whose cross was narrowly clipped over by the onrushing Rick Whyatt before Rick got his head onto another cross just before half-time, heading just over this time around.

In the second half Sandbach really started to trouble us down their own right-hand side.

Danny Whiting had to palm away a whipped cross just three minutes into the restart with him then making a world-class stop to tip over a fierce drive from the edge of the area on the 55th minute.

On the hour mark Sandbach hit the post after cutting in from the right and leaving Whiting rooted to the spot with the shot with them then taking the lead just a minute later.

Sandbach's Jordan Davies went down the right and evaded a number of challenges, leaving him free to square the ball where Luke Walley was waiting for an easy tap-in.

With 75 minutes gone Sandbach got a penalty of their own which James Kirby slotted home.

Danny Whiting then had to beat away another drive from the right before a carbon-copy of Sandbach's second goal - same scorer and all - put the tie well-and-truly out of reach on 80 minutes.

Annoyingly we don't have a match this weekend to put things right. We'll just have to wait for the visit of Eccleshall next Wednesday evening. Rain, rain, stay away....

TEAM: Whiting, Nield, Pearson, Delaney, Shaw, Harrison, Collinson, Wood, Cotton, Whyatt, C Sherrington. SUBS: Gardiner, Ambrose, Dunn, Ratican, Allcock (gk).

Cheadle Town 3-1 Abbey Hulton United

Given our home form this season the quip of late has been "can we play away from home every week". There should now be the addendum "if we have to play at home, can we play Abbey Hulton?"

Only two wins at home all season and both against Abbey Hulton; they'll be sick of the sight of Park Road and will be mighty glad they won't have to visit again this season.

Four goals, yes, but not a classic as it was all a bit stop-start at times. Both sides engaging in a dolly mixture of very good and downright frustrating passages of play, resulting in what could be best described as a "functional" win for us.

If you had some of your hard-earned money on us scoring in the first and last 25 seconds of the first half then enjoy your winnings. What would have been the odds on that!?

Mssrs Chris Sherrington and Adam Gardiner were the ones that bookended the first half. The former bundling home after 25 seconds following a right-wing cross from Jake Ambrose and the latter with a wonderful header from a James Dunn cross just as the referee was about to blow for half-time.

In between lay a half where we arguably should have built up a more commanding lead.

Adam Gardiner almost made it 2-0 on the 11th minute when he was put through on the right but his clipped shot over the keeper was cleared off the line at the last.

Five minutes later Tom Russell sent Tom Ratican clear down the left but he shot straight at the keeper.

Abbey Hulton had caught us napping from a corner on 20 minutes from which Danny Whiting had to make a clever palm over the crossbar with the visitors then levelling a minute later; we lost possession in midfield and the ball was worked down the right and in-field, ending up at the feet of Dylan Bath who rifled home.

Straight down the other end Jake Ambrose almost uprooted the post when he got onto the end of a Chris Sherrington cross with Daniel Whiting to our rescue again, palming away a close-range effort.

A minute into the second half and Adam Gardiner had a great chance to make it 3-1, being put through the middle and managing to poke it past the keeper but being thwarted by an Abbey Hulton defender.

On the hour, he would get a better chance as we were awarded a penalty. He took it, stroking the spot kick home to give us a bit of breathing space.

Daniel Whiting was called into action again on the 75th minute, pushing a well-struck free-kick around the post before jake Ambrose was gifted a chance to put the tie out of sight, latching onto a poor kick-out from the keeper but only giving it him back with a poor shot.

Rick Whyatt then somehow managing to block a James Dunn shot off the line was the pinnacle of the frustrating moments of the match, but by then we were 3-1 up and any threat that Abbey Hulton was presenting seemed to have long gone.

So, down to the last eight we go and a trip to Eccleshall or Sandbach United awaits in the new year. 

TEAM: Whiting, Ratican, Dunn, Trucca, Shaw, Harrison, Ambrose, Russell (Delaney), Gardiner (Cotton), Whyatt, C Sherrington (Clarey). SUBS: Wood, Clarey, Delaney, Cotton, Piggott (gk)

Irlam 3-2 Cheadle Town

Blame me. I jinxed it.

With all three of the allocated minutes of injury time gone I had prepped a tweet saying "going into extra time" just as Irlam were about to send in a free-kick; unfortunately we chose the wrong time to not deal with said ball, allow it to bounce in the area and have poor Michael Birch shaft it into his own net in his haste to clear it. There was no time left to make amends.

A terrible shame as we had worked hard in the latter stages of the second half to haul ourselves back level after going 1-2 down and give ourselves another 30 minutes at trying to turn the tie back around in our favour.

We had also started the game reasonably well, taking the lead in the 18th minute thanks to a superb Liam Tongue effort.

In the lead-up to that we had already seen Liam fire the first shot in anger on the 9th minute and Rick Whyatt see a turn and shot in the box denied by a good one-handed save shortly afterwards.

When Rick turned the ball inside from the right for Liam on that 18th minute he swung a right foot at it and sent a curling, looping shot right into the top corner; think Yaya Toure's goal for Manchester City in the League Cup Final versus Sunderland a couple of years ago and you get the idea.

The pattern of the first half then shifted with the hosts having much the better of what remained.

It culminated in Irlam getting a deserved equaliser just after the half-hour mark when Liam Morrison's - Irlam's Man of the Match for me - shot from the edge of the box got a slight deflection on its way in, sending Josh Samberg the wrong way.

They should have been ahead just three minutes later but their striker somehow managed to send it skywards when put through and only a couple of yards out.

Josh Samberg was then called into action a couple of times before the break, making an excellent block on 41 minutes when Irlam looked set to score from close range (and perhaps being guilty of dallying for too long) and then showing strong hands two minutes later to beat away a fierce drive.

We found ourselves behind ten minutes after the restart after Irlam continued their pressure and a couple of undeserved yellow cards seemed to upset our rhythm. It was a well-worked move by Irlam: a nice combination of passes down the left side resulting in Boland crashing home from just inside the box.

But then the pendulum swung again.

Substitute Arnold Nsimbe looked through on goal and set to score on 77 minutes but took too long over his shot thus allowing the Irlam defence to snuff out the danger. No sooner had that chance gone begging, Liam Tongue was then put through on goal to drill home from the edge of the box.

Just two minutes after that an Irlam cross from the left found a blue-shirted free head but he got his bearings completely wrong and the ball troubled the corner flag more than it did our goal.

The tie was set to go either way and set to have that extra half-hour, but we were all spared even more of a soaking from the rain by its rather unfortunate ending.

Best of luck to Irlam in the quarter-final when they travel to Litherland REMYCA. We do battle again on Boxing Day for the league fixture.

TEAM: Samberg, Vincent, Pearson, Naughton, Dunn, Birch, Hincks, Tongue, Nolan (Nsimbe), Whyatt, Sherrington. SUBS: Nsimbe, Lee, C Jones, McLaughlin, Kennedy.