NEWCOMERS Barge Albion are flying the flag in the Halifax Cup.

They were 2-1 winners over Rochdale side Woodhouse United at Fartown High School.

Ash Addy capitalised on a defensive mix-up to net with a low shot just before the break.

The Lancastrians levelled in the 75th minute, a tame header slipping through the hands of goalkeeper Jez Travers.

Extra time looked on the cards, but Paddy Hirst was brought down by the Woodhouse goalkeeper for a last-minute penalty which Danny Stranovic put away confidently.

In league action, Foresters bounced back from their 9-0 defeat by Athletico Monkey to gain a creditable draw against reigning champions Waterloo BC.

Foresters were 2-0 and 4-2 down, but earned a point thanks to a hat trick by Dave Brennan and a Carl Sykes strike on 88 minutes.

Meanwhile Monkey suffered a 5-2 loss against Sporting Club Shepley.

Monkey have 40 players signed on, but for the second week in a row, only 11 were available.

One of those missing was pacy new striker Nicky Shaw, who scored a hat trick against Foresters.

Ryan Walsh, Jordan Singh and Mark McChaiselong made their debuts for Monkey, who were on the back foot in the early stages.

Shepley duly went one up through debutant Lewis Butterfield, but the goal sparked Monkey into life and Matty Mates levelled.

The second half was bossed by Shepley, however, and they netted through Damien Sykes (2) and debutant Sam Denton before McChaiselong pulled one back.

Any chance of a Monkey fightback was ended when substitute Andrew Sylvester netted with his first touch in his first match.

While Britannia beat Helion 5-2, promoted FC Varsity beat much-fancied Pak Rangers 4-2.

Phil Coombes notching a hat trick and Chris Redmile also netted for Varsity.

Pak’s scorers were the Murray brothers, Aaron and Damian, but the former missed a penalty.

In Division II, Lindley easily beat Irish Centre 8-0, with Michael Fill leading the way by netting five times.

Woolpack beat Meltham Victoria Park 2-0 with new boys Scott Newburn and Ross Hawkyard on the scoresheet in a match which featured a missed penalty by both teams.

In the interdivisional game, Woodfield Park beat Field Head 2-1.

Karl Ross was the hero for Woodfield, first squeezing between two defenders to cancel out the visitors’ opener, then grabbing the winner with a superb long-range strike.

Field Head had two goals disallowed for offside in what was a fiercely contested clash.