Cup ties for Cromer, Wroxham

CROMER and Wroxham are bidding to reach the last four of the Norfolk Senior Cup this weekend.The quarter-finals are scheduled to take place on Saturday, with Cromer travelling to Spixworth and Wroxham at home to Norwich United.

CROMER and Wroxham are bidding to reach the last four of the Norfolk Senior Cup this weekend.

The quarter-finals are scheduled to take place on Saturday, with Cromer travelling to Spixworth and Wroxham at home to Norwich United.

Cromer, third in the Anglian Combination Premier Division, will be favourites to progress against Spixworth, who are third from bottom.

And Wroxham, runners-up last year when they lost to King's Lynn in the final, will also be tipped to go through against a team 10 places below them in the Ridgeons Premier Division.

The Yachtsman were one of the few sides to beat the freeze on Saturday, as they recorded a 1-0 win at Debenham LC, to leapfrog their hosts to eighth in the table.

The result pleased manager David Batch in the run-up to three cup games in the space of two weeks. He said: 'It was a good three points. We were desperate to play the game - we haven't played since December 15 because our games have been cancelled.

'We've got three cup games on the spin, starting on Saturday, so it was important for that reason too. Most importantly for me, and most pleasing, was that we played very well - we dealt with the conditions well and bossed them.'

After Saturday's cup tie, the Yachtsmen face a trip to Great Yarmouth in the Ridgeons League Cup on Tuesday before going further afield to play Armthorpe Welfare in Yorkshire in the last 32 of the FA Vase on January 16.

At Debenham, on a snow-covered pitch, the crucial goal was scored by Paul Cook from Gavin Lemmon's free kick. He turned in the third minute and shot low into the net past Debenham keeper Louis Johnson. A key factor in the game was the form of man-of-the-match Steve Spriggs who repeatedly put the home defence to the test.

Wroxham might have doubled their advantage when Cook and Matt Daniels exchanged passes before Spriggs sneaked behind the defence, but he hit his volley wide. Soon after Spriggs took Lemmon's pass and weaved through several challenges before his shot cannoned off the bar. In a snow shower Debenham keeper Johnson did well to divert a Daniels shot around a post to safety.

In the second half Gedny shot into the side netting then Johnson dived at the feet of Daniels to deny him. Wroxham survived a scare in injury time when Debenham hit a post.