Fantastic comeback seals a place in the semi-final.

Junior football round-up

Matlock U-16s 2 Buxton U-16s 3

Buxton travelled to Bakewell on a sunny morning to play Matlock in this long-awaited cup quarter-final which had been postponed several times due to the state of the pitches.

Both teams were keen to progress to the semi-final and fought hard from the start.

Matlock seemed sharper and were soon rewarded with an unexpected goal which was scrambled in but nevertheless deserved. Matlock went on to score a second and Buxton were playing catch up.

Buxton stepped up their game and Matlock found the chances had dried up. With Mirams and Grindey in midfield taking control of their area, and Goldstraw, Hicks, Lavender and Grattan sealing the defence, their game turned to attack.

Melland and Smith on the wings worked hard, feeding balls into the centre for Hudson and Shaw, but nobody could beat the excellent Matlock goalkeeper.

Grindey took a superb free-kick which looked set to land in the back of the net, but once again the keeper saved Matlock when he tipped the ball over the bar.

Melland crossed in from the left and missed scoring by a fraction, while Smith was denied again by the keeper. In the second half, Buxton stepped up their game even further and were rewarded when the hardworking Mirams scored a superb goal to bring the game back within reach.

Matlock never recovered and Critchlow soon scored another fine goal, making the game even.

Buxton continued to attack time after time, and just when it looked as though the game was going to extra time, Mirams, playing a fantastic game, slotted in a third.

The ball had hardly been returned to the centre spot when the whistle sounded and Buxton had made a fantastic comeback to reach the semi-final. Man of the match: Richard Mirams.

Juno 5 Whaley Bridge U-16s 0

On a day when Whaley were looking for three points to spur them on towards the top of the Stockport Metro League, an own goal after two minutes was the last thing they needed.

However, with their usual passion and commitment, demonstrated typically by Joe Bishop, an equaliser seemed only a matter of time away.

Juno did go close again twice in the first half but at least five opportunities went begging at the other end.

Ten minutes into the second half, a fine solo effort from one of three Juno forwards made it 2-0, but at this point Whaley were by no means beaten.

Sadly, on 55 minutes, a misunderstanding in the defence led to a second own goal, and at 3-0 down Whaley had given themselves a mountain to climb.

The result was put beyond doubt when the Whaley keeper was only able to palm a lofted ball onto the crossbar, the rebound being gleefully tucked away by a predatory Juno attacker.

On 78 minutes, a moment of farce saw a penalty given when a Juno forward appeared to trip himself up.

In the interests of fair play, the footballing gods allowed Whaley's keeper to save the spot-kick, but the fickle finger of fate saw the resulting corner slice through the defence to find an eager Juno boot at the far post.

Juno's five-goal margin was rather flattering and Whaley had several good individual performances, …