Will Ufland maintained his purple patch in front of goal as North London Raiders C edged past HMH Old Boys after a real thriller in the Peter Morrison Trophy.
Alex Elf and a first of the season for Oli Nathan added the gloss in a game where NLR keeper Grant Waissel needed to be on top form.
Dom Feldman and Adam Abadi struck for HMH.
NLR's David Domb told JC Sport: "HMH were a real credit to their football club. They played the game in the right way and were unlucky to be on the losing side.
"Today we were clinical. Three clear chances and three goals. A lesson in finishing from our forwards as we continued our positive start to the season in all competitions.
"A few league games lie ahead so a chance for us to get some points on the board, but great to be in the hat for the next round."
HMH boss Avi Goldberg felt his team deserved more. "We had approximately 75 per cent of possession and 25 chances compared to five from Raiders. I think you get the picture! It was Chelsea vs Barcelona. On another day it would have been a rout," he told JC Sport.
"We battered them, playing swift attacking football, such that the whole game was played almost entirely in their half but in the end a combination of their goalkeeper, poor finishing from us and the woodwork - three times - saved them together with two cheap defensive errors in first half from us.
"They went 2-0 up through defensive errors but we clawed it back 2-1 then 3-1 as we chased the game then 3-2. In the last few minutes alone we created four chances but it was not to be.
"Unfortunately due to injury and exams, we only had 11 players (10 under 20 years) and even had to play 20 minutes with 10 men. That's it for this season as my boys return to uni!"
