FAO - Sportsdesk (Mobile 07813 859986) From: Lancaster & Crowther Sports Agency
By Neil Goulding
OLLIE Hall led the way with six goals as Mellor crushed basement boys Brooklands Hulmeians 18-2 in the Men's North of England League Premier Division.
The youngster was the highest scorer in all of the weekend's five top flight matches, goals which saw Hulmeians become the first Premier Division team to be relegated this season.
Poynton and Rochdale, last season's promoted clubs, will be battling it out over the next few weeks to make sure of their survival, but one of them will join Hulmeians in Division Two next season.
Mellor's sixth win of the season put them out of the relegation equation, with Poynton also favourites to stay up with two games in hand on Rochdale, albeit their fellow survival rivals are one point ahead.
Alistair Wallace netted a hat-trick, while Mark Greaney (four assists), Freddie Evans and Will Sugden (three assists) all scored doubles for Mellor.
Tim Roche, Steve Roche (three assists) and Andy Etherington were also on target as Mellor won every quarter - 4-2, 3-0, 5-0 and 6-0.
Hulmeians' keeper Maz Hassan made 15 saves to keep the scoreline a lot lower than it could have been, while Jonny Laio scored both of the visitors' goals.
Victory in their remaining three league fixtures - all of which have to be re-arranged from earlier in the season - would see Wilmslow claim their first-ever Premier Division crown.
The ever-dependable Chris Mountney top-scored with four goals and provided two assists, while Ashley Tarran-Jones and England international Mark Reynolds bagged hat-tricks as the Styal Road team eased to a 13-7 win at home to former league winners Cheadle on Saturday.
Dan Green added a brace and James Perrin also found the back of the net as the home team won the first quarter 4-1, led 10-2 at half-time, shared the third quarter 1-1 and then lost the final quarter 3-2.
American Tucker Prudden top-scored with a hat-trick for Cheadle, Adi Bennett scored two and Mike Holdsworth and Alan Stones scored one each.
Lee Warburton did the bulk of the damage with four goals as fellow title-chasers Timperley, also chasing their first Premier Division title, thumped Manchester Waconians 14-4.
Will Sandy scored three, there two goals each for Andy Brickell, Mike Armstrong and Will Sandy, while skipper Rob Macklin completed the scoring.
Timperley led 3-0 after the first quarter, 7-1 at half-time, 12-2 after the third quarter, before the final quarter was shared 2-2.
David Seneviratne netted a double for Wacs, last season's Daily Telegraph Senior Flags champions, with Dominic Fitzgerald and Mike Bocklett scoring a goal each.
Richard Wilson scored four as Stockport, the defending champions, fought back from 4-1 down to beat promoted Poynton 14-8.
Trailing after a bad first quarter, the Beech Road boys responded by whitewashing the visitors 6-0 in the second quarter for a 7-4 half-time lead.
The third quarter was shared 2-2, but Stockport ran away with the final quarter 6-2. Owen Jones was on target with a hat-trick, Paul Fullerton, Tom Gosnay and Steve Howe scored braces, with Adrian Wright also on the mark.
Former Stockport player Simon McGuigan top-scored with four goals for Poynton, Rob Holmes netted twice, while Johnny Nicholls and Sam Davidson completed the scoring.
Glenn Humphreys scored three, David Morris two, with single strikes from Nick Nugent, Neil Marshall and Dan Moody, but it was not enough for Rochdale as they slipped to a 12-8 away defeat to Heaton Mersey.
The first quarter was shared 1-1, the second was won 4-3 by Mersey for a 5-4 half-time lead, before the third quarter was also shared, this time 2-2 to leave the match finely-balanced at 7-5.
But Mersey won the final quarter 5-1 to inflict an 11th league defeat on last season's Division Two runners-up.
Results
MEN, North of England League - Premier Division: Mellor 18 Brooklands Hulmeians 2, Wilmslow 13 Cheadle 7, Timperley 14 Manchester Waconians 4, Stockport 14 Poynton 8, Heaton Mersey 12 Rochdale 8.
Division 2: Ashton-under-Lyne 6 Nottingham 7, Boardman and Eccles 13 Stockport A 13, Manchester Waconians A 10 Stopfordians 9, Cheadle A 2 Sheffield Steelers 11.
Division 3: Brooklands Hulmeians A 8 Mellor A 15, Rochdale A 2 Norbury 23, Poynton A 1 Manchester Waconians B 0.
Division 4: Sheffield Steelers A 9 Cheadle B 3, Cheadle Hulme 10 Poynton B 7.
Division 5: Norbury A 7 Ashton-under-Lyne A 10
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