THE first round games in the Bolton Sunday League's Open Cup brought a bag full of goals as Premier League sides faced opposition from lower leagues.

Leading the way were Radcliffe Amateurs who knocked in 18 against newcomers Wellington, a second division side.

It was Wellington's debut and they were hit by absences due to holidays and injuries but have given assurances that they are up to the task in their own division.

Leading scorers for the winners were Barron and Gudojc, who each found the net four times.

Second half subsitute Nigel Radcliffe was a hat-trick hero for Bowling Green as they thumped Second Division side Red Lion 13-0. He was outshone however by his team-mate Jamie McDonald who was a five goal hero.

Another side Eagle and Hawk from Leigh were also hit by the absentee bug and crashed out 10-0 to Lodge Bank. Leading the goal chase was Tony Astbury with a hat-trick.

Anglers from the Premier went to second division Vertex and came away 9-1 winners with a Derek Wilcox hat-trick and two each for Mark Budworth and Tony McCaffie. The consolation goal for Vertex came from Mark Mutton.

Pulled off

Gibralter Rock, who have moved out of the Pioneer League into the Premier, made a useful start with a 7-1 success against Second Division Farmers Arms. David Yates led the way with a hat-trick with Neil Callow netting twice and one each for Steve Harlow, Scott Fairhurst and Mark Murray.

Bolton Castle didn't disappoint as they pulled off their expected victory over Victory, Steve Bolton grabbing four and Gary O'Neil adding two in the 9-0 romp while Farnworth Royales, who had been forced to come through a preliminary round, were not aso lucky this time going out 6-2 to New Edition, Steve Jones hitting a hat-trick, Phil Corner (2) and Phil Mason getting the other.

Church Inn and Jolly Waggoner were also on target with 8-2 and 5-1 wins over Greenfield and FC Baroc respectively.

Not all the games were settled as emphatically as those with a few tight scorelines emerging.

Hare and Hounds took on lower division Athletic Atherton but could only scrape through by a single goal, Lee Molyneux grabbing the decisive score while there was a ding-dong battle between Little Hulton CC and Clifton Rangers from the same division, Rangers going through 5-3 with double scores from Gary French and Tony Cooper plus another from Garth Jones. Alan Gaskell, Roger Kumah and Darren Lindsay hit the target for the Cricketers.

Shakespeare were pushed all the way by Gilnow Vets and only emerged with a 2-1 win, Steve Roberts and Simon Kirby getting the goals with Paul Greenwood scoring for Gilnow.

RS Walkden and Tonge United were both promoted to division one last season and played out a close encounter with Walkden before going through 3-1 with goals from Chris Tweed and two from Warren Jones. Gareth Atkinson scored Tonge's consolation.

No shortage of goals in a thriller at Howcroft OB, who emerged 6-4 winners over F & K Dynamoes with two goals each for Ernie Blaskovic, Alan Mitchell and Paddy Gallagher. It was a similar story in the game between Allboro and Waggon and Horses, Allboro coming away with a 7-4 success, Kevin Fletcher a hat-trick man.