On Saturday, a closely fought encounter between Vikings FC and Gateacre FC ended with the away side recording a 1-0 victory, thanks to a first half strike from Joe Connolly.

The early exchanges saw both teams attempting to get their passing rhythms going, with one bright spark for the Vikings being William Myers, who twisted his way through the defence before setting up Kyle Geraghty for a shot which was comfortably smothered by the Gateacre 'keeper.

However, the Vikings FC defence were caught out for the only goal of the game 13 minutes in, with a perfectly weighted through-ball finding its way to the feet of Joe Connolly, who executed a beautiful lob over on-rushing Vikings goalkeeper Kyd Kirkby.

Myers again delighted the home crowd on 39 mins, when he recovered from surrendering possession himself to halt a potential Gateacre counter attack, by producing a sliding tackle to deflect the ball out for a throw-in.

The Vikings may have considered themselves fortunate that they didn't leave the field at half-time 2-0 behind, as a dangerous cross from the right hand side evaded everybody, but the backtracking Kyle Geraghty had no option but to concede a corner kick with Connolly again lurking.

Gateacre brought on midfielder John McGhee for the start of the second half and he continued to tease the Vikings defence with a shot which swerved narrowly wide, and a powerful effort which flashed across the goalmouth but thankfully for the Vikings, no Gateacre player was in position for a tap-in.

A surge forward and shot from John Murphy for the visitors was also close, but the home defence did its job and deflected the ball wide of the left hand upright.

The closest Vikings FC came to a goal was a blocked effort from Myers just after the hour mark, but Gateacre's positioning and organisation meant that they were difficult to break down and always posed a threat on the break.