THE FIRST round of the League's cup competition brought a couple of nail-biting matches in all Sections.

In the E and F Sections' clash between Metro D and Walmsley B, the latter immediately set about the former's 100 handicap. Apart from second mixed, the games went as expected to Walmsley and by the end of the mixed, they had retrieved 60 points from the handicap.

If they had been able to continue this way, they would have been straight through to the next round. But, the Metro ladies pulled out all the stops in the levels, and when Helen Hart and Liz Alcock won the last ladies 15-3, they left Metro needing only three points from the final men's to go through.

Although Walmsley's Andrew Reid and Dave Fairclough put up a spirited fight to the end, theirs was an impossible task and Metro ran out the winners with some to spare.

Special mention here for 16-year old son Neil Hart who was brought up from his G Section team to play in this Cup match. He played extremely well and kept his head throughout to ensure his side's success. In the same Cup competition, more youngsters shone when Metro C entertained Forrest F in what always promised to be a close match.

After a shaky start losing four of the first five games to Metro, Forrest settled down to pull back four of the last five mixed leaving the score at 5-5 and Metro 13 points ahead.

Metro's first ladies and men's increased the lead, but Forrest then pulled back the second ladies' set with some determined play.

By this time, Metro's second men only required four points for a win and whilst Steve Arnold and Steve Morris won both the final games for Forrest, it was not enough to prevent Metro taking the match by just six points.

Forrest's B team also got through in the A and B Sections' Cup competition - by just three points. The B team from B Section had a 120 points' advantage over their A Section opponents, on scratch, but the latter made swift inroads into the handicap. Yvonne Lowe and Mark Brunnen in particular recorded two games to 0. But Forrest's fightback stepped up a gear when Tim Bartle and Carolyn Ingram won the first game of their final mixed set 15-13.

Tim proved to be the hero of the hour, when, after Forrest recorded some good-scoring levels, he and Lancashire veteran Stewart Seddon played Chris Rae and Phil Howe in the final men's. The Forrest pair won both 15-10, 15-7 to ensure a win from an exciting clash.

In this Cup competition, both Markland Hill teams survived the first round, with the A team scoring a comprehensive win over Chowbent A 263-136, and the B team enjoying the same sort of success at Rosehill.

And the G and H Sections' match between Holy Cross B and Sharples C also had nerves frayed right until the final points. Holy Cross were on a 120 points' start, but Sharples sensibly attacked the handicapped straight away, winning the first three games to low single figures with Anne Marie Foster and Ian Smith particularly effective.

When Eileen Quirke and Tony Kelly took the final mixed set 15-6 for Holy Cross, however, the home team were spurred to success.

In spite of good work in the top men's and ladies by Sharples, Holy Cross started to move towards the second round when Lianne Dooley and Eileen Quirke won both second ladies to 15-5.

Charlie Kiely and Tony Kelly held David Critchley and Ross Manning to 11-15 in the second to last game of the night, and even a Sharples' win 15-3 in the final game could not stop Holy Cross winning when the handicap was added on.

The new Bolton le Moors Junior Badminton League began its fixtures at its Harper Green Sports Centre home. The two-hour session brought some promising play from the teams taking part - from local clubs and schools - and this opening session bodes well for the future of the League, and for badminton in Bolton. RESULTS A & B SECTIONS: Forrest B 258 beat ABC A 255; Markland Hill B 248 beat Rosehill 204; Markland HIll A 263 beat Chowbent A 136; BASS A 300 beat Christ Church A 228.

B & C SECTIONS: Park B 251 beat Bolton SC 178; GMT A 304 beat Chowbent B 172; Farnworth A 322 beat Thornleigh C 238; Sharples A 257 beat Sharples B 225.

C & D SECTIONS: Metro C 223 beat Forrest F 217; Metro D 264 beat Walmsley B 252; Christ Church D 282 beat Chowbent C 219; Holy Cross A 285 beat Christ Church C 224.

G & H SECTIONS: Thornleigh F 328 beat Park D 184; Holy Cross B 252 beat Sharples C 241; Bolton Institute B 267 beat Smithills C 208; Farnworth D 266 beat Sharples D 88.

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