MANCHESTER HANDICUP ROUND ONE
AFC FLIXTON 5 MACCABI MANCHESTER 2nd 0

Stuart Delmonte praised his troops for a job well done as AFC Flixton swept past Maccabi Manchester 2nds in the Handicup Cup.

Flixton starting the game with a two-goal deficit, as per by the tournament’s rules, but they soon wiped this out thanks to a hat-trick from Adam Stephens.

Top-scorer Leor Sidle and Adam Gilman were also on target in this first-round win.

Flixton joint-manager Stuart Delmonte said: “It was a close-fought game for an hour. But once we got our noses in front, we didn’t look back.

"Credit must go to my players for seeing the job through. It was a professional performance against a good young side.

"Adam will get the plaudits but there several standout performances.

Meanwhile, mystery surrounds the reasons behind South Manchester’s abandoned Handicap Cup tie against West Manchester.

With West Manchester winning 3-1, and holding a 5-1 advantage, the man in the middle called time on the first-round clash 15 minutes early.

South Manchester’s Ian Tussie said: "Nobody knows what quite went on. Nothing untoward happened in the game. There was no problem between the two teams. We are trying to get to the bottom of it.

"It looked like we were heading out of the competition at the time."