A large crowd gathered at a windswept Pleasington to witness the game of the day in Division One as league leaders New Gardeners took on last season’s runners-up Clifton.

In a very evenly balanced contest the Darwen side went in at half time with a 1-0 lead thanks to a goal from Paddy Lauber.

It was more of the same in the second half and try as they could, Clifton could not break down a resilient Gardeners defence and midway through the second period the Darwen team increased their lead – Liam Davies pouncing on to a loose ball to score with the Clifton keeper stranded.

New Gardeners made sure of the points with a 3rd goal 10 minutes – Lewis Hamlin converting from the penalty spot – before Clifton grabbed a late consolation.

Havelock and Beehive shared the spoils in a very entertaining 1-1 draw, while Intack eased into second spot in the table with a hard fought win against Brownhill Arms.

In the Second Division, Stanhill were the days top scorers with a 10-1 win over Brown Cow who are finding life in Division 2 hard, while Helmshore had a 2-0 win over JQ Plumbing.

Stanley Ultras went to the top of Division Three with a very convincing 4-0 win over Gastec Celtic who have hit a bad spell.

But Brown Cow Olympic remain in contention with a 5-0 victory over Hyndburn Youth.

Rosehill and Rishton Rangers served up a 13 goal feast with the Rishton team just edging home, Ewood Blues won 5-1 over Sunnybank.

The first round of the cup was completed as last season’s beaten finalists, Crown Paints, put out First Division AMT Lawyers 8-2.

Station had a good 5-2 win away to Third Division high-flyers Oswaldtwistle Immanuel while Baggy’s Wine Bar claimed their first win of the season 6-1 in the all second division with Hare & Hounds.