DESPITE fielding a side missing five regular faces, Cartmel turned over Premier Division title favourites Slyne-Hest on Saturday and the iconic veteran Colin Cowperthwaite came up with the goods yet again.

Cartmel's 1-0 victory avenged an earlier 6-1 defeat as the reserve-team players brought into the side did them proud.

Slyne had the best of the first half, but Cartmel's defence stood firm under the pressure and the closest Slyne came to scoring was a 25-yard shot by Marc Goulding which had keeper Ian Taylor beaten, but crashed against the bar.

Cartmel went for broke in the second half and Michael Huitson caused problems with his speedy runs down the wing, but it was left to a couple of stalwarts to supply the winning goal.

Neil Robinson broke up a Slyne-Hest attack and ran almost the length of the field before delivering an inch-perfect pass on to the head of player-manager Colin Cowperthwaite.

Cowperthwaite showed why he was Barrow's star striker for so many years by placing a powerful header away from the Slyne-Hest keeper.

Meanwhile current table toppers Ingleton and second-placed Squires were involved in a match, which they both needed to win, as Slyne-Hest have games in hand.

It proved to be a keenly-contested match with both sides playing excellent football on a good flat surface. The match was well-handled by Tommy Daniels, who is celebrating his 25th year as a referee, and a 1-1 draw was a fair result. Graham Atkinson scoring for Ingleton and Paul Campbell for Squires.

At the bottom of the Premier Division Caton United are already relegated and Burton Thistle joined them after being trounced 5-0 by Storeys on Saturday and losing 2-1 to Power Station on Monday.

Division One remains wide open with seven teams still in the promotion hunt.

Hot favourites for the divisional title must be Arnside, however, poised in second place and with four games still to play. On Saturday they dented third-placed City Contract Services title hopes by beating them 3-1.

The Lancaster-based side took an early lead, but Arnside who have been going through a bad patch lately, refused to fold and equalised just before half time through a powerful Eddie Harte shot.

Arnside dominated the second half and leading scorer Colin Wilkes found the net twice. On Monday Arnside boosted their challenge with a 6-1 win over Millhead, Jonathan Mason, Andrew Boyd, Stephen Peartson, Andrew Wilson (2), and Colin Wilkes their goalscorers.

Fourth-placed Allithwaite Rangers revived their promotion bid with a 1-0 victory over already relegated Galgate.

Galgate mounted a solid defence and goalkeeper Danny Lambert produced a string of fine saves.

It was a slice of luck in the 28th minute that won the game for Allithwaite when a lose ball fell kindly to Neil Turner who's first time shot was just inside the upright.

The other relegated side, Bolton-le-Sands also put up stiff resistance before losing

2-0 to Ingleton Reserves.

On Monday Ingleton Reserves upset Allithwaite Rangers, beating them 3-0 with goals from David Baron, Graham Cowgill and James Earnshaw.

It was 70 minutes before Sam Hargreaves gave Ingleton the lead and ten minutes later Michael Russell scored the second.

Cartmel Reserves lost 2-1 to Community Sports in the Second Division Cup, Scott Burrow hitting the consolation goal.

In the league, Bentham kept alive a slight hope of promotion by beating Holme Athletic 4-2. Stuart Ralph, Eric O'Hare, Paul Lister and Chris Hodgkinson were the Bentham scorers while Stuart Lord and Joseph Mather netted for Holme.

Highgrove are Third Division champions in their first season in the league, ensuring the title with a 5-3 victory over battling Swarthmoor Reserves.

In a match played at high speed Stuart Rushworth (2), Russell Mitchell (2) and Jack Clear scored for Highgrove and Daryl Evans, Stuart Jackson and Will Walker for Swarthmoor.

Allithwaite Reserves pulled of an unexpected 4-3 victory over Overton, who beat them 11-0 earlier in the season.

The win came despite Allithwaite losing five players to the first team and their goals came from David Bolton (2), Steven Thompson and a massive 50-yard boot from James Rowlandson.

Results:

Saturday:

Squires/Fisher. Howson Cup, semi-final: Storeys Res 3, Westgate Rangers 2.

Premier Division: Burton Thistle 0, Storeys 5; Cartmel 1, Slyne-Hest 0; Ingleton 1, Squires 1; Marsh Utd 2, Phoenix Celtic 2; Morecambe Royals 6 Caton Utd 2.

Division One: Arnside 3, City Contract Services 1; Boys Club 3, Morecambe Royals Res 0; Galgate 0, Allithwaite Rangers 1; Ingleton Res 2, Bolton-le-Sands 0; Vine 0, Marsh Utd Res 0.

Division Two: Cartmel Res 2, Swarthmoor SC 1; Holme Athletic 2, Bentham 4; Slyne-Hest Res 4, Arnside Res 1.

Division Three: AFC Moorlands 2, Holme Ath Res 0; Allithwaite Res 4, Overton 3; Burton Thistle Res 2, Millhead Res 1; Galgate Res 3, Halton Rangers 1; Highgrove 5, Swarthmoor Res 3.

Monday:

Premier Division: Burton Thistle 1, Power Station 2.

Division One: Ingleton Res 3, Allithwaite 0; Millhead 1, Arnside 6; Morecambe Royals Res 0, Galgate 0; Westgate Wanderers 3, Storeys Res 2.

Division Two, Holden Cup final: Cartmel Res 1, Community Sports 2.

Wednesday:

Sam Price Memorial Cup final: Storeys 2, Squires FC 3.

Division 2: Bentham 0, Holme Athletic 3.

Division 3: Allithwaite Res 0, Galgate Res 5; Burton Thistle Res 3, Torrisholme Res 2; Westgate Rangers 0, Highgrove FC 5.

Westmorland County FA Junior Cup final: Cartmel Res 0, Ibis 0 (Ibis won 4-3 on penalties after extra time).