Lancashire and Cheshire AFL premier division leaders Whalley Range were without a game and their only rivals for the title, Mellor, showed their intent of chasing down the leaders with a big 13-0 win over basement team Moston Brook.
The win sees Mellor move to within nine points of Range with three games in hand and now a superior goal difference.
There was an entertaining derby game at Abacus Media with the home team sharing ten goals with reigning champions Rochdalians.
The other Premier division game ensured Old Ashtonians’ safety from relegation as they won 3-1 at Parrs Wood Celtic.
Division One
Moorside Rangers were able to celebrate as a hard-earned 2-1 derby win over Swinton saw them clinch the division one title with three games left to play.
Swinton played much better than their lowly league position suggests and a gritty defensive display held off Rangers with the help of the post and bar several times.
Goals from Jones and Sixsmith took Rangers across the line to wrap up a successful season and now the main interest in the division is to see who takes the runners-up slot with Newton Heath and Signol Athletic level on points, both with a game to play.
The other game in the division saw free-scoring Stoconians again on fire with a thrilling 6-4 win at Didsbury.
Division Two
There was plenty of action and goals galore in a hotly contested battle for top spot in division two.
With leaders Waterloo out of action Mellor seconds took advantage to draw level with them on points and game in hand after a hard-earned 3-2 win at Staly Lions.
Hooley Bridge Celtic stay in the mix despite being held to a rare goalless draw at South Manchester seconds.
Spurley Hey warmed up for their Stockport Senior Cup semi-final this coming Saturday with a 4-3 win at Moston Brook seconds and Newton seconds were too hot for Chorltonians winning 6-1.
Division Three
It’s still tight in the battle for the division three title as the top game in the division saw leaders Didsbury seconds draw 1-1 with close rivals Salford Vics seconds.
Chorltonians seconds moved into second place above Vics with a comfortable 7-1 win over Hooley Bridge Celtic seconds.
Newton Heath seconds look to be out of the title chase but they kept in touch with the leading pack with a 7-1 win over Heaton Mersey.
Division A
Division A leaders Hollingworth were in Whitehead Cup action but Chorltonians Rovers missed the chance to overtake them on goal difference as they went down 6-3 at Tintwistle Athletic seconds.
Signol Athletic seconds dropped out of the race as they lost 3-2 at Aldermere but Whalley Range thirds still have a league and cup double on their agenda as they were too hot for AFC Oldham seconds winning 8-0.
The other game in the division saw |Hargreaves Bury stay in the bottom two as they were beaten 3-0 by Mellor thirds.
Division B
There were no league games for the top two teams in division B and Village Manchester maintained their recent momentum with a 2-1 win at Deans that saw them move to within a point of second-placed Tintwistle Athletic thirds.
The top score in the division came at Hillgate who beat Rochdale Galaxy 6-4.
By contrast there were no goals as Bedians seconds entertained Chorltonians Villa and the other game was another close affair as Old Stretfordians seconds won by the odd goal in five at Bury Ams thirds.
Division Three
The top game in division C between the top two saw Moorside Rangers seconds take a big step nearer to winning the title.
They won 1-0 at Oldham Vics seconds to lead the division on goal difference from Vics with three vital games in hand.
The other two games in the division were also close contests with Moston Brook fourths beating Manchester Rovers 3-2 and Stoconians thirds won 4-3 at AFC Oldham thirds.
Division D
Bedians thirds took another step to securing the division D title as they cruised to a 5-1 win over Stoconians fourths.
Trafford United seconds kept in touch with the leaders with an emphatic 7-3 win over Whalley Range fourths.
The other two games ended in deadlock with neither Old Stretfordians thirds or Didsbury fourths able to find the back of the net in their game and Droylsden JFC shared six goals with visiting Chadderton Park seconds.
Cup action
There were three cup ties and In the Wray Cup Whalley Range seconds cruised into the last four after demolishing Santos 11-3.
The Whitehead Cup semi-final saw Hollingworth win 3-0 over local rivals Tintwistle Athletic to book their final slot against Whalley Range thirds.
Spurley Hey seconds made it through to the Hellawell Shield final with a 2-0 win over Bury Ams fourths.
Hey took an early lead with a rare left-foot effort from Jason Willingham but the proceeded to kill the game off as they missed numerous chances before the break.
Bury came back well and they too missed some good opportunities before the lively Aaron Dwyer sealed the tie for Hey in the dying minutes of a game played in superb spirit which was a credit to both teams and the officials.
