CLIFF BULLEN CHALLENGE CUP FIRST ROUND PREMIER Division leaders Great Shelford, beaten 2-0 in extra-time by Littleport Town last week, suffered a second successive cup exit on Saturday, this time at the hands of revitalised Fordham. It was a terrific win

CLIFF BULLEN CHALLENGE CUP FIRST ROUND

PREMIER Division leaders Great Shelford, beaten 2-0 in extra-time by Littleport Town last week, suffered a second successive cup exit on Saturday, this time at the hands of revitalised Fordham.

"It was a terrific win," said Fordham secretary John Pryke afterwards, "and it could have been much better as well."

Shelford applied early pressure, but were square at the back and fell behind to a Jose Montero goal.

Daren Pryke made it 2-0 in the 47th minute after a move involving Montero and John Sands, and for the next 20 minutes Fordham dominated proceedings.

Montero added number three after Ben Fuller's fine run, and Pryke rounded the 'keeper to make it 4-0 with 12 minutes remaining.

Shelford staged a remarkable comeback to trail only 4-3 with five minutes left, but the visitors held on for a famous victory.

Littleport Town are also through to the second round, but they needed extra-time and a penalty shoot-out to beat Senior Division A rivals Soham Town Rangers Reserves.

Nigel Smith side-footed home after good work by Dave Beeton following a corner, and David Cullum (jnr) had a 'goal' disallowed for offside before Soham drew level.

Mark Brown made two fine saves for 'Port towards the end of the match and then proved to be the difference between the sides in the shoot-out, keeping out two penalties while Sean Ambrose, Alan White, Beeton and Smith scored as 'Port went through 4-3.

Haddenham Rovers crashed out of the competition 4-0 at Milton, and the same scoreline saw Soham United depart at the hands of Senior A leaders Wisbech Town Reserves.

SENIOR DIVISION A

JAMES Salmons grabbed a hat-trick as Ely City Reserves won convincingly at Brampton on Saturday.

Martin Gray nodded home at the far post after David Cornwell's header had found him unmarked, and Salmons bundled home to make the interval score 2-0.

Gareth Arter made it three with a shot from 15 yards, and Cornwell fired home his second before Salmons completed his hat-trick to make the final score 6-0.

CREAKE CHARITY SHIELD FIRST ROUND

SUTTON United progressed in style, smashing Longstanton 8-3. Peter Wallace opened the scoring with a speculative effort, and further goals from Colin Coulson (4) and Matthew Keys (3) put Longstanton to the sword.

Littleport Town Reserves also made it through, with Luke Butcher's double securing a 2-1 win against Waterbeach Reserves.

LOWER JUNIOR CUP FIRST ROUND

FORDHAM Reserves held on by the skin of their teeth before securing a passage to the second round at the expense of Willingham Reserves.

Ollie Foreman, towards the end of normal time, and Wayne Bell, near the end of extra-time, kept the visitors in contention, and penalty conversions by Mark Hacking, Trevor Bissett, Foreman and finally Bell secured a 4-3 shoot-out win.

JUNIOR CUP FIRST ROUND

WITCHFORD '96 departed from the competition as they lost 5-2 at Great Chesterford.

DIVISION 2B

ELY City A ran out convincing winners at Lode, with Jamie Gayfer (2), Luke Fretwell and Neil McKnight among the scorers in a 7-1 win.

Isleham United meanwhile earned a point at Hemingford United Reserves, with Russell Boneham and Richard Morley the players on target in a 2-2 draw.

DIVISION 3B

SOHAM United Reserves remain second in the table after a comfortable 3-0 win at Huntingdon United RGE Reserves.

An own goal was all that separated the teams at half-time, but Stuart Freeland doubled Soham's advantage after the break and Jason Parker wrapped up a fine team performance with a third goal in the closing stages.

Another own goal helped Pymoor FC on their way to a 5-2 win against Lakenheath Reserves, which moved them up to third spot. Leading scorer 'Pip' Ball was again on target with a double, and other goals went to Edward Hale and Jason Cridford as Pymoor took control in the second half.

The Vine also moved up a place as they crushed Brampton Reserves 8-0, but Little Downham Swifts just missed out against 100 per cent leaders Wisbech St Mary, going down 2-1.

DIVISION 4B

MEPAL Sports produced their worst performance of the season, but still maintained their unblemished league record with a 2-0 win against West Row Gunners Reserves.

Goalkeeper Jason Rayner was relatively untroubled as Giles Peacock and Darren Murfitt saw off the Suffolk side.

Ely Crusaders thrashed Haddenham Rovers 9-1, and Burwell Swifts came from two goals down to snatch all three points at Exning Athletic.

They reduced the 2-0 interval deficit with a spot-kick from man-of-the-match Lee Hardy. Rich Barnes then stabbed home after a long throw from Danny Jones to level the scores, and Jones himself rifled home the 90th minute winner.

DIVISION 5B

ISLEHAM United Reserves lifted themselves off the bottom of the table with a 3-1 win at March Rangers.

It was goalless at half-time, but Isleham scored three times in the second half through Robert Starnes, Mark Chinnery and Nick Samuels.

Longstanton Reserves likewise claimed their first points of the campaign, but unfortunately for Wicken Amateurs it was 2-1 at their expense.

The Vine Reserves won 3-1 at Dataracks Elite, Jamie Doswell's double helped Littleport Town A win 3-0 at Coldham United, and Burwell Swifts Reserves had to dig deep to edge out local rivals Little Downham Swifts Reserves by the odd goal in three.

Tom Thatcher dispatched Glen Carman's through-ball to put the hosts in front, but Downham responded with a header from Dean Martin.

Nick O'Leary's second half effort bounced clear after striking the underside of Downham's crossbar, but Dave Benson grabbed the winner by firing a loose ball through the goalkeeper's legs.

Steve Green