HOTSHOT Damien Gibbons, brought some warmth to a bitter Sunday morning as he fired Radclyffe Arms into the quarter-finals of the Manchester Amateur Sunday Cup.

Gibbons struck five times as Arms hammered Eccles Sunday League side Weaste United 11-0.

It was an incredible performance from Gibbons who already had seven goals to his name going into the match which had been switched to Duchy Road in Salford after the first attempt to play the game at Broadhurst Park had been abandoned seven days previously.

Losing home advantage had no effect on the fortunes of the Middleton Sunday League Premier Division leaders, and with all other Middleton games once again hit by the weather there was a fair crowd to watch their progress.

There was only ever going to be one winner as third division Weaste were put on the rack from virtually the first whistle.

Indeed, they can be satisfied with keeping the score down to a reasonable level, as Arms threatened to run up a cricket score.

Carl Brogden helped himself to a hat-trick and there were further goals from Colin Bennett, Dean Thomas and James Nutt as Radclyffe poured forward at every opportunity.

Their reward is a home tie in the quarter-finals against Stamford, 2-1 winners over Swinton on Sunday.

Stamford accounted for Avro and Acres Inn in previous rounds. The game will be played in the New Year.

Langley Celtic will be hoping to make it third time lucky when they attempt to play their Champion of Champions tie against Newton Heath Locomotive on 4 January.

Match fitness could be a problem for the Celtic lads as the game, if it goes ahead, will be their first match since 16 November.

With all Rochdale Council pitches unavailable until 4 January, due to the Christmas holiday period, it has been a frustrating spell of postponements and free weeks for teams in the league.

When pitches haven’t been frozen or waterlogged the league has seen some excellent games this season, with goals aplenty. But the committee and management of clubs will have their hands full ensuring interest is maintained with such long gaps between fixtures.

The inter-league fixture with the Eccles Sunday League, scheduled for Salford City’s ground on Wednesday night, was also called off.