Catterick Village 0 Menston Rangers 3

For the second time this season Menston Rangers avenged a league defeat by progressing in the Spa Cup.

Three weeks ago Catterick won 2-1 at Queensway despite being outplayed for the vast majority of the match. Here Menston again dominated but made no mistake.

A somewhat makeshift Menston team took to the pitch as they were left with only 12 fit players available for the game. Midfielder Craig George was pressed into service as an emergency left-back, manager Chris Cooper restored himself to the starting line up and Richard Wintle earned a rare start up front.

Despite having much the better of the early exchanges Menston only had a Richard Wintle effort, which fizzed past the post, to show for their efforts.

Catterick were content to hit on the break and though causing a few scares did not threaten Simon Wintle's goal.

A poor defensive header from Catterick saw Harry Bond strike a superb volley which the home 'keeper did well to push round the post. A succession of corners and throw ins followed for Menston which Bond himself finally finished off with a touch much less convincing than his earlier shot.

More Menston pressure followed, and following another succession of set pieces leading scorer Scott Warbrick fired home through a group of players to give Menston a 2-0 half-time lead.

By this time Catterick had long lost the midfield battle and Richard Dickinson was starting to pull the strings on the left hand side. Menston created all the chances but couldn't find the goal to kill the tie off.

A couple of slips at the back allowed Catterick possibilities but cover was rapidly on hand. Finally Menston got the all important third with a move started at the back seeing Richard Wintle flick on to Scott Warbrick who centred for Julian Senior to wrap up the game.

This proved to be Wintle's last contribution as he was replaced by Gerald Haughian who showed some good touches. Senior, Dickinson and Warbrick all had further efforts at goal as Menston looked the more likely to add to their tally.

As with most of Menston's better results this season, this was a victory built on a solid defence performance. The back four, well marshalled by Dick Metcalfe, displayed surprising composure in their play and rarely let the opposition threaten their goal. This was reflected in the bloodied Chris Cooper being awarded Man-of -the-Match.

On Saturday Menston are due to return to league action, with Pateley Bridge Reserves scheduled to visit Queensway for a 2pm kick-off. Pateley are, by all accounts, a young team with a good short passing game well suited to heavy pitches. The deteriorating state of the Queensway pitch may however prove more of a hinderance than they expect, and indeed throw the fixture in to some doubt.