A varied programme of county cup and league fixtures provided a busy day for the Lancashire and Cheshire AFL.

Reigning champions Rochdalians set the pattern in the Lancashire Amateur Cup with a polished display giving them a 3-0 win at Horwich RMI.

Bettering this were division A heroes Aldermere who enjoyed a great 4-0 win over Ince Central.

Bedians won by the odd goal in five hosting FC Britannia from Lancaster and South Manchester kept their nerve at Ribble Wanders winning 3-2 on penalties after a 2-2 deadlock.

But the penalty shoot-out went against Whalley Range after a 1-1 draw at Lancaster Rovers and Moston Brook after a 3-3 score against Radcliffe Town.

Old Ashtonians were also in a close encounter losing 2-1 at Caton United while Hooley Bridge Celtic went down 3-1 at Accrington Ams.

In the Manchester Amateur Cup, Trafford United cruised to a 3-0 win at Heaton Mersey.

But they were the only winners as there were early exits from the competition for Milton who went down 5-1 to Prestwich, Chorltonians by 2-3 to Radcliffe St Mary’s.

Moston Brook seconds by 4-3 in a thrilling derby at North Manchester and Chadderton Park seconds who were walloped 7-1 by Manchester North End.

There were some significant games in the premier division with Tintwistle Athletic moving to the top of the table with a convincing 3-0 win over previous unbeaten leaders Old Trafford and Gorse Hill.

Athletic opened the scoring on 32 minutes through Jonny Higgins then a quick double from Aiden Lovett gave them a comfortable 3-0 interval lead.

OT and GH pushed for an early goal after the break but despite creating several good chances they were unable to breach the Athletic defence in what was an excellent game and worthy of Match-of-the-Day billing.

Mellor now remain as the only team with a 100 per cent record and they made up ground in their games in hand playing some sublime football to beat Parrs Wood Celtic 7-0.

Their star man was Liam McAuley with four fantastic strikes and also netting were Mike Palmer and Rob Crossley.

The other game in the top flight was a much closer affair with Newton beating High Lane by the odd goal in five.

There was also some crucial action at the top of division one as Moorside Rangers moved three points clear after a hard-fought 3-2 win at Stoconians.

Stocs took a deserved early lead but Brad Sixsmith had Rangers level just before the break with a sneaky effort.

Stocs regained the lead early in the second half but Rangers cranked up the pressure when a neat lay-off allowed Heard to crack home a low shot from 25 yards and a brilliant strike from MoM Sixsmith took the points for Rangers.

The big upset came as Swinton picked up their first win of the season against 100-per-centers Newton Heath with a dramatic 2-1 victory.

Signol Athletic took full advantage of Heath’s slip as they kept up their hot run of form with a 6-1 demolition of Old Stretfordians taking them into second spot.

Didsbury’s bright young team are moving into good form and they pulled off a great 5-4 win at Bury Ams and Salford Vics were delighted to pick up their first points of the season with a 5-3 win at Oldham Vics.

Waterloo are enjoying their first season in the league and they stay joint top of division two after a comfortable 3-0 win over Mellor seconds.

Joining them on points are AFC Oldham who were 3-1 winners at Stlay Lions to keep up their 100 per cent record.

Reigning champions Whalley Range seconds are getting back on track with an impressive 6-3 derby win over South Manchester seconds keeping them in touch with the top two.

There was a first win of the season for Parrs Wood Celtic seconds winning an exciting game at Spurley Hey by 4-3.

High Lane seconds top division three after a comfortable 7-3 win over new boys Manchester Polonia after previous leaders Chadderton Park were beaten 9-3 at Cheadle Hulme Athletic after scoring three early goals.

There were aso big wins for Newton Heath seconds by 6-0 over Rochdalians seconds, Didsbury seconds by 5-1 at Hooley Bridge seconds and Salford Vics seconds by 5-0 over Santos.

It is still early days in division A with several teams in close proximity at the top of the table.

The current leaders are Tintwistle Athletic seconds who edged a 2-1 win at Stoconians seconds and hot on their heels are Chorltonians Rovers, who had a big win over Moston Brook thirds and Whalley Range thirds who accounted for Mellor thirds by 5-1.

AFC Oldham missed a chance to go top as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Hargreaves Bury.

The other game had Bury Ams cruising to a 4-1 win over Signol Athletic seconds.

In division B Abacus Media seconds and Old Trafford and Gorse Hill seconds kept up their blistering start to the season and stay level on points at the top of the table after Abacus won 9-0 over Chorltonians Villa and Ot won 4-0 at Bury Ams thirds.

Village Manchester ended Hillgate’s unbeaten record as they came back well from conceding an early goal to win 2-1 and Old Strets seconds stay in the mix as they kept an immaculate clean sheet beating Staly Lions seconds 2-0.

Tintwistle Athletic thirds were too hot to handle as they beat Milton seconds 6-2 and the other game saw Deans and Bedians seconds sharing four goals.

Moorside Rangers also kept a clean sheet as they stay on top of division C with strikes from Parker, Fry and Birchall seeing them to a 3-0 win at AFC Stockport.

Didsbury thirds are level on points with Rangers after accounting for Oldham Vics seconds 2-1 and Manchester Rovers kept up their good run with a 5-1 win over Moston Brook fourths.

Salford Vics thirds enjoyed a 7-4 win in a goals fest with Stoconians thirds and Spurley Hey seconds went nap in a 5-2 victory at AFC Oldham thirds and the other game ended at 1-1 between the third teams of Parrs Wood Celtic and Abacus Media.

Bedians thirds lead the way in division D after a big win at Chorltonians Athletic and Droylsden JFC were also in goal-hungry mood with a 7-0 derby win over Staly Lions thirds.

Bury Ams fourths were also in the goals with a 5-2 win at Stoconians fourths.

It was closer in the other games in the division as Didsbury fourths made it a great day for their club with a 3-1 win at Whalley Range fourths Old Strets thirds beat AFC Oldham fourths 2-1 and Trafford Unted seconds shared six goals with Swinton seconds.