Armstead hat-trick puts Hill on a high

Photo: PICTURES by CHRIS SUNDERLAND.

GOALSCORER Gary Armstead (left) jumps above Grey Mare's Luke Barratt.

AMATEUR FOOTBALL:

Fitton Hill Rangers 4, Old Grey Mare 0

FITTON Hill Rangers’ Gareth Armstead saw to it that there would be no upset as his hat-trick helped see off the threat of Old Grey Mare in the second round of the Challenge Cup at Snipe Clough.

Yet a surprise was very much on the cards when the draw for the D & J Builders (North-West) Ltd Oldham Sunday League’s most prestigious competition was made.

Rangers have been struggling for form in their debut season in the top flight and Mare look excellent bets for promotion from the league’s basement division.

Apart from the biting cold and a slightly less than perfect pitch due to frost, Rangers were determined to get their season back on track with a much-needed win.

And Rangers got off to a flyer in the 11th-minute when the alert Armstead pounced on a loose ball inside the Mare penalty area to lift his shot over the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

Armsted doubled his tally just past the midway point of the first half with a similar poacher’s effort, shortly before his team-mate Danny Hitchens had to be taken to hospital for a nasty-looking cut on his leg following an innocuous 50-50 tackle.

Rangers manager John Rainford said: “There was nothing malicious about the challenge that required Danny to have stitches and obviously the referee didn’t either.

“It was great to get a win at last, but I would have swopped this for three points in the league.”

The fact that Rainford paid special tribute to his centre-back Danny Lowther says much about the gutsy performance of Mare, who are separated by three divisions from Rangers.

When Mare did get past Lowther, it was their finishing that let them down.

Rainford added: “They just didn’t take their chances and that has been exactly the same with us in the league this season.

“We need to take this form with us into the league and carry on putting away our opportunities.”

Rangers were three goals to the good after 69 minutes when Paul Badby scored with a 25-yard screamer.

It was then left to Armstead to cap the victory with a neatly-taken strike with four minutes left.