Aylsham's excellent start to the season continued at the weekend when they booked their place in the second round of the Norfolk Senior Cup.

Martin Meek's side have only just become eligible to play in the competition, having clinched consecutive promotions, but they looked perfectly at home in the heady surroundings of the county's top knock-out competition.

They travelled to Anglian Combination Division One colleagues Poringland Wanderers and won 3-0, with goals from William Abbs, Mark Gaskin and Matthew Henderson earning their side a trip to Premier Division outfit Reepham Town on Saturday, September 29.

Aylsham can still boast a 100pc record this term, having won both their league games before seeing their Mummery Cup clash at Harleston abandoned because of a back injury sustained by Travis Whitlam that, thankfully, proved to be not too serious. They will be looking to extend that proud record on Saturday when they travel to a Norwich CEYMS side who have lost both their league fixtures so far.

Aylsham's neighbours and Division One rivals Holt United bowed out of the Senior Cup at the first hurdle on Saturday.

The Owls did well in the competition last season, reaching the third round before suffering a heartbreaking 3-2 defeat at Thetford Town. But there was no excitement this time around as they suffered a 6-2 defeat at Harleston Town, who reached the final of the Norfolk Junior Cup last term.

Holt got off on the wrong foot once again at the weekend, conceding an early goal. They equalised shortly afterwards, only to find themselves 3-1 down at the halfway point due to poor defending.

In the second half the Owls took off Chris English due to the effects of the heat and Sam Morgan due to a below par performance. They later brought the score back to 3-2 and looked dangerous but could not sustain it and conceded three further goals late on. Holt's scorers were Chris Fuller and Daniel Fuller while man-of-the man for a whole-hearted display was Gavin Neal.

Jake Imrie led the way for Harleston with a hat-trick while James Harrison, Neil Renalt and James Trudgill were also on target.

The Owls, who are still looking for their first win of the season, will be aiming to bounce back at Brandon Town on Saturday in what will be their fourth away match out of five.

Back in the league Sheringham and North Walsham are still at the foot of the Anglian Combination Premier Division table after both suffered their third successive defeat.

The Shannocks appear to be struggling more after slumping to another heavy defeat, this time losing 4-0 at Kirkley and Pakefield Reserves. That means they have now conceded 20 goals in the opening four fixtures, with a heavy Mummery Cup reverse also thrown in. Craig Bedingfield was Sheringham's tormentor-in-chief at Walmer Road with a hat-trick while Lewis Flower was the other scorer. Hopefully things can only get better, with a home fixture against St Andrews the next opportunity to stop the rot.

North Walsham have also lost three out of three in the league, but two of those reverses have been narrow ones, with the latest close thing coming on Saturday when they lost 3-2 at Reepham, with Skipper and Kerry on target for the Angels. Dan Cork's new-look side now need to start turning narrow defeats into draws or wins, starting at Beccles on Saturday.

Sheringham will be at home to Hempnall in the second round of the Norfolk Senior Cup on September 29 while North Walsham face a local derby at Stalham.