The Huddersfield & District FA Trophy is a competition organised for Reserve or other teams playing in a Huddersfield League.

Because some clubs enter their Reserve team and their A team, there is a chance they may be drawn to play each other.

This season there were 27 entrants, so the chance of Meltham Reserves being drawn against their A Team in the first round was 26-1.

In that first round, five clubs had byes but neither of the Meltham teams were that lucky.

After last week’s results, both of them have won three games and they have now been drawn to play each other in the semi-finals – and the odds on that must be astronomical.

Meltham Reserves had a problem before kick off. Four of their regulars had played in the Challenge Cup and therefore could not drop down to play in the Challenge Trophy. And they could not recruit from the A team as no player is eligible to play for more than one team in the Trophy. Nevertheless, they fielded a team and beat Skelmanthorpe Reserves 2-1.

On paper, Meltham Reserves looked favourites, having a record of won five, drawn five and lost five in Reserve Division One, while their opponents are joint leaders of Reserve Division Three, but Skelmanthorpe had just won their last six games.

A strong wind made playing good football very difficult with the side playing down the slope having the bulk of the attacking play but, after 90 minutes, the score remained 0-0.

In the first period of extra time Skelmanthorpe played with the slope and took a lead with a goal from Joe Howson.

In the second period of extra time, it was Meltham’s turn to use the slope. Firstly Tom Holmes hit a half volley from 25 yards for the equaliser and, with less than a minute left, Meltham had a stroke of luck. Jack Ellis-Pownall cut in from the left and shot, his effort taking a big deflection into the net.

The Meltham A team played on the next field at Broadlands Rec and, on paper, their task looked difficult. Their opponents, Diggle Reserves, are in a respectable fifth position in Reserve Division One while Meltham A are fourth bottom in Reserve Division Two, but League positions often don’t mean a lot in cup matches – and this game proved exactly that.

The score at the break was 1-1 but Meltham’s goal came after a couple of mistakes. Meltham’s Robert Richardson chased down a back header to the Diggle keeper. Richardson got a touch but missed the chance to score. The Diggle keeper then miscued his clearance, which gave Richardson a second chance and he made no mistake.

Ten minutes into the second half, Martin Ball intercepted a pass and crossed for Jake Butcher to put Meltham in front. It was still anybody’s game until very late on when Butcher added another to send his side into semi-finals with a 3-1 win.

There were some games in District FA Challenge Cup and now three of the four semi-finalists are known. The two remaining County Amateur League sides both progressed. Golcar United beat Holmbridge by 3-1 and Storthes Hall were 7-2 winners over Diggle.

As mentioned last week, Upperthong are proving to be the giant killers of the cups this season. They won again to reach the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup when they scored three early goals against Meltham. The semi-final draw is Golcar v Kirkheaton or Newsome (who beat Cumberworth 6-4 in their quarter-final tie) and Storthes Hall v Upperthong.

When the grounds start to dry out, teams find the “bobbling ball” difficult to control and this is often reflected in lower-scoring games. Last week there were six 1-1 draws and in another it was 0-0.

In Division Three, the top four played each other and these two matches were both 1-1 draws, so there is obviously no change in positions.

This was the second week in succession that leaders KKS Spartans had drawn to another team in the top four, so their chances of promotion are not being threatened as they now need only three points to ensure Second Division football next season.

But they are eyeing the divisional title and Aimbry, who drew 1-1 with Brook Motors, are now just six points behind with two games in hand.

There were also two 1-1 scorelines in Division Two, which was excellent news for leaders Shelley.

Their fixture was called off as Linthwaite failed to raise a team and their two closest rivals Holmfirth Town and Heyside both dropped points in their 1-1 draws.

Local soccer, Honley v Heyside at Neilly Playing Fields (Honley in purple) Honley's Danny Goodwin.
Local soccer, Honley v Heyside at Neilly Playing Fields (Honley in purple) Honley's Danny Goodwin.

Holmfirth Town were held to that draw by their neighbours Holme Valley Academicals, while Heyside shared the points with Honley. The dark horse for this division are still Skelmanthorpe who, after beating DRAM 6-0, are now 12 points adrift of the leaders with four games in hand.

In days gone by when punters had a bet on the football coupons, they often tried to forecast three draws. Last week, the three teams at Berry Brow provided just that – three draws.

The first XI dropped two points in the chase for the Division One title when they shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw with Britannia Sports, while their A team were another of the 1-1 draws when they played away at Holme Valley Academicals.

Brow’s second team also had a 1-1 draw when they faced Heywood Irish Reserves, but as this was a Richardson Cup tie, it went to penalties with Brow coming out on top by 4-2. They now meet Meltham A in the semi-finals.

Hepworth United Reserves won Reserve Division Three last season and are now within just three points of winning Reserve Division Two. They play Kirkheaton Rovers A today and, on current form, there is a strong chance they will be collecting that trophy later today.

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