TWO goals from man of the match John Lawrence secured victory for Lothersdale in the Devonshire Carpets Division One Cup.

Dale secured a 6-3 victory over Waddington after a pulsating game, which was one of the best cup finals seen in the league for many years.

Both teams were committed to attacking play and Lothersdale made their intentions clear from the kick-off. They powered into the attack and a shot from John Baker hit the woodwork in the first minute.

Waddington were not to be outdone and defended well, they also looked dangerous on the break. The Ribble Valley took the lead from the penalty spot with Robert Lloyd blasting the ball home.

Dale were spurred into more attacking play and after a couple of near misses a pin-point cross from Mark Watson saw a perfect diving header from young striker Liam Jeffreys level the scores.

Lothersdale were stretching the Waddington defence but they managed to hold out and regained the lead from the penalty spot, again converted by Lloyd, to take a 2-1 lead into the interval.

Waddington started the second half with passion and penned dale back in their own half for the opening 10 minutes. When the Dale attack clicked into gear a flowing move out of defence saw a good cross from John Baker find the head of John Lawrence to level the scores once again.

This time there was not let up from Dale and only the brilliance of the Waddington keeper denied them further goals, until after one superb save the ball was deflected back from a defender to give Dale a 3-2 lead. Now they were clearly in command and started playing one-touch football with John baker the next to score when he finished off a five man move.

A second goal from Lawrence put Dale 5-2 ahead, but Waddington refused to give up. They attacked strongly, going close before netting a third as Adam Spencer fired home a great shot.

Any hope of a comeback were dashed when Dale made the cup secure with one last move which ended with Curtis hall waltzing through a tired Waddington defence to bring a pulsating final to a close.

The match was well refereed by Mr M O'Neill and his assistants Roy Edwards and John Wood. John Beck of sponsors Devonshire Carpets, Keighley, presented the cup, individual trophies and man of the match award.

SARFRAZ GULZAR of Bronte Wanderers was named man of the match in the Premier Division Cup final -- but it his side were beaten 3-1 by Skipton LMS.

The Skipton side have now secured two of the cups they were fighting for , they had already won the Craven FA Cup, and aim to complete the hat-trick tonight (Friday) when they meet Grindleton in the final of the Northern Plant Hire Challenge Trophy at Gargrave.

They were out to make amends for defeat in the Premier Cup last season and the match, was played at Cross hills on Monday in excellent conditions. Bronte's defence was well controlled as they snuffed out early challenges from LMS who also missed a couple of golden opportunities.

Bronte came more into the game with quick breaks out of defence. A great shot from Tim Frear rattled the crossbar and seconds later a fine move split the LMS defence and Nigel Smith got the opener to give Bronte a 1-0 lead at the break.

They also put LMS under pressure in the early stages of the second half, but the Skipton side weathered the storm and began to put their game together. Runs down the left by Ian Tyrer were causing problems and eventually Robert Kaminski got onto the end of one of the crosses to equalise.

The Skipton side had the slight edge as the teams jostled for superiority, but they could not press home their advantage. Extra time was looming when a quick attack saw a fine shot from Matthew Readay beat the Bronte keeper. The Keighley-based side had one last rush, but the attack came to nothing and LMS broke out with John Allan making the game safe.

The cup and trophies were presented by Mr John Beck of Devonshire Carpets, Keighley.

On the league front the only matter to be settled is runners-up spot in the Premier Division. Grindleton are currently in second place with 41 points and have completed their matches. Skipton LMS have two to play and are on 40 points, while Keighley Lifts have one to play and are also on 40 points. LMS and Lifts meet at Skipton on Monday (May 12) when the issue could be settled, or it could go down to the last match of the season on Wednesday, when LMS play Skipton Bulldogs.

Fixtures

Challenge Cup Final (Tonight, Friday 6.30pm, Gargrave) Grindleton v Skipton LMS.

Monday, Premier Division: Skipton LMS v Keighley Lifts.

Wednesday, Premier Division: Skipton Bulldogs v Skipton LMS.