KIRKBURTON had seven teams in cup action and, while the Under 12s, the Under 14A team and the Under 17s safely negotiated their way into the second round, the rest went down to heavy defeats.
Dalton Dynamoes overpowered the Under 11s with a 7-1 win and Kirkburton B were unable to find a response as Netherton ran out 7-0 winners in their Under 14 first-round meeting at Hawkroyd Bank.
Kirkburton A went down 14-4 to Wyke Wanderers in the Under 15 League Cup first round.
Two sides that went in opposite directions at the end of last season met at Kirkburton Middle School.
Kirkburton suffered relegation from Division II last season and are aiming to bounce straight back after five wins and a draw from six.
Wyke, meanwhile, have enjoyed a huge turn around in fortunes over the last two years. This is mainly thanks to the influence of manager Steve Vickers, who has turned the Wanderers from a struggling Division II side into genuine title contenders.
Kirkburton started brightly enough but their inability to hold onto the ball cost them dearly as a throw in from the right was flicked on to Tom Yeadon whose looping header crept under the bar.
Yeadon was in the action again five minutes later when, as the home side struggled to clear, the lively Wyke forward hustled his way past three defenders to lay on a pass for Ben Baker, who doubled the Wanderers advantage with a low shot at the far post.
Only another five minutes had passed before Muli Simpasa, who was enjoying far too much time and space, sent in a cross for Joe Vickers to extend Wyke’s lead.
Simpasa then turned from goal provider into scorer by netting Wyke’s fourth.
Anthony Ramsden, Alex Goodliffe and Oliver Knight tried hard to pull Kirkburton back into the game and were rewarded when Luke Wood reduced the arrears.
A torrential downpour in the middle of the game didn’t help Kirkburton’s cause but, Wyke were simply too strong on the day and, by half time, further strikes from Baker, Vickers and Yeadon had virtually sealed the result in Wyke’s favour thanks to a 7-1 lead.
Even a second-half hat trick from Jack Neagle was not enough to save Kirkburton as Wyke’s Yeadon went on to score two more, Baker and Simpasa completed their hat tricks and one each for Peter Booth and a goal for defender Tom Ponter sealed a 14-4 victory for Wyke.
Kirkburton B went down 13-0 to Dewsbury Rangers.
Fourth Division Kirkburton were unable to find any response as Jonathan Ginnelly (4), Aiden Gooch (3), Lewis O’Rourke (3), Scott Lightowler (2) and an own goal gave Dewsbury comfortable passage.
