Report for matches played on Sunday, March 7th 2010

Darley Dale Lions retained their four-point lead at the top of the Matlock & District Football League table with a 5-2 away victory over AFC Lea Holloway at Lea Green on Saturday.

It was a below par Holloway that struggled to adapt to an unfamiliar 4-5-1 system and an own goal from Steven Fox early on that did the damage.

As ever, the talented, pacy Shaun Bott shone for the home side and pulled one back after beating the offside trap and rounding keeper Gary Widdowson before slotting home to make it 3-1 at half-time.

An electric start to the second half saw Bott intercept a pass straight from the kick-off and he managed to slip a pass through to Nigel Emberton, whose pinpoint cross found Bott at the back post who headed home to put Holloway right back into the game.

The game didn't get any better for Holloway though as Darley showed their superiority in the game to add two more goals and put the game beyond doubt. Darley Dale scorers were Robert West, Martin French, Mark Ashton and Max Marsden.

Shirland Miners Welfare kept up their winning ways and secured second spot with a 2-1 away victory on a sad day for Laburnum Saints whose Jonathan 'Fuzzy' Sellors broke his leg in three places.

Laburnum fought hard and defended well in a scrappy first-half with chances few and far between for both sides. After the break Shirland pressed for a goal only for their efforts to be thwarted by Tim Killick, Michael Charlton and Simon Bunting.

After soaking up the pressure well Shirland took the lead with ten minutes to go when Ian Hursthouse fired a sweet shot into the net. After a good tactical decision by manager Nick Wildgoose, Saints equalised when John Dunsby set up Andy Clifton to head home the equaliser from six yards.

With three minutes left on the clock Shirland's push for a winner paid off with a deflected Steven Wright shot finding its way past man-of-the-match keeper Tim Killick.

Riddings returned to winning ways with a 5-1 victory over lowly Black Hippo who are still searching for their first points of the season

Hippo started the brightest and when Rovers' make shift back line switched off Toby McLean nipped in to score after four minutes.

Riddings started to control proceedings from the early goal and responded quickly when a Hippo defender handled in the area. Up stepped Adam Coleman to make no mistake from the spot, sending the keeper the wrong way.

The home side pressed the Hippo back line deep into their own half from there on and were rewarded on fifteen minutes when Richard Hardy looped a great effort into the far corner of the net from a short corner at the edge of the eighteen yard box leaving Stuart Pearson in the Hippo goal with no chance.

It was 3-1 minutes later when Artur Gugala found space in the area and beat the keeper at his near post to put Rovers firmly in command at half-time.

The second period was a pretty poor affair from both sides with some very scrappy patches of play at times but the one stand out moment came on 70 minutes when Hippo switched off from a free-kick on the half way line and the ball was played to Gugala who rifled the ball into the top corner from 20 yards leaving the keeper with no chance.

The scoring was all wrapped up on 85 minutes when Gareth Vardy scored with a headed effort from a corner to give Rovers a creditable 5-1 scoreline.

In the first Manor Pharmacy Shield semi-final Hilcote United’s Danny Ryan scored a hat-trick with a 3-1 win over a poor Kings Arms. Richard West scored for the visitors.

Manor Pharmacy Shield semi-final action sees Shirland v Laburnum on Saturday (13 March, 2010) while in the league it’s Harveys Bar v Ashbourne, Darley Dale Lions v Matlock Town Youth, AFC Lea Holloway v Tibshelf Community and Hilcote United v Kings Arms.