North Lancs football: High five for Arnside in big Galgate victory

Man of the match was long-serving Marco Thompson, who scored a great hat-trick as the Galgate defenders were unable to control him.

He was ably assisted by James Kirkham, while the other scorers were James Thornton and Sean McQuilian.

Galgate’s late consolation came from the penalty spot and was scored by Steve McMinn.

Carnforth Rangers’ return to form in recent weeks was smashed when they entertained Highgrove.

Carnforth started well but faded under the relentless pressure as Highgrove scored three times thanks to Joe Martin, Liam Breslin and Tom Starke.

This win moves Highgrove up to fourth from bottom, one place above Carnforth.

Caton United moved to within four points of Ingleton at the top after an unconvincing 2-0 win over fifth placed Trimpell and Bare Rangers.

Caton missed so many chances but Trimpell were unable to unlock Caton’s defence. Adam Garnett and Jacob Davis, on his return to the club, scored the goals.

Marsh United eased their relegation worries when they travelled to play College AFC and came away with a 5-3 win.

Hakan Oktem, Gary Larne and Sean Morgan scored the goals for College with Anthony McCluskey, Joe Booth, Scott King and Jamie Eccles (2) scoring for Marsh United.

In Division One, Grange played their first game of 2017, winning 4-3 against Boys Club in an entertaining match.

Promotion hopefuls Boys Club, in third place at the start of play, opened the scoring when Stuart Leeming netted but it only took Grange a few minutes to equalise when Sam Dixon popped up with a headed goal into the top of the net from a delightful free kick from Mike Purves.

Grange continued to apply pressure and won a penalty soon after which was tucked away by William Anderson to put the hosts into the driving seat.

Sam Dixon scored his second with a piece of individual brilliance, taking the ball some 40 yards before slotting it into the bottom corner.

Dixon then completed his hat-trick in the second half when he gambled on a long ball and after a bit of confusion between the Boys Club goalkeeper and defender he latched onto the ball for probably the easiest goal in he will ever score from two yards out.

The other scorers for Boys Club were James Davies and Jack Braithwaite.

This defeat drops Boys Club down to fourth place and their dreams of Premier division football next season are fading.