THE quarter-final games in the newly renamed Norman Simmons Senior Cup were played on Sunday.

Tie of the day was at The Hill, Upton, where despite ending the game with only nine men, visitors Cross Keys came out on top by 4-3 when they visited Talbot Head.

Played in sunny conditions, the exact opposite of the last two weeks, the game began slowly with both sides testing each other out. It was eventually Cross Keys who took the lead after 10 minutes when Ed Lyons was on hand to finish off a good move.

It was 2-0 to the visitors in the 20th minute when Rob Cullen latched onto a long ball over the top of the home defence and gave Nick Rogers no chance with an excellent finish. Talbot Head pulled a goal back in the 25th minute when Tom Hofton completed a fine solo run by drilling the ball home.

The game really burst into life after 35 minutes. Firstly Talbot Head were awarded a penalty for an off-the-ball incident and, following Tom Hofton's spot-kick being well-saved by Craig Humphries both Andy Fletcher and Rob Cullen were shown red cards for foul and abusive language, which saw Cross Keys reduced to nine men.

If Talbot Head thought they had Cross Keys beaten, they were very much mistaken and Steve Brookes scored the goal of the game when he superbly volleyed home a Mark Taylor cross from the back post to make it 3-1. Talbot Head pulled a goal back following a fine run down the wing by David Schooling, who saw his accurate cross turned home by the onrushing Danny Briscoe.

Cross Keys then increased their lead with a fine solo goal from Dale Humphries, who beat several players before cutting inside to fire home an excellent shot. Talbot made it 3-4 in the 89th minute when Andy Rogers turned in the box and fired home.

But resolute defending by the nine-man Cross Keys saw time out and they progressed to the semi-final where they will visit Fromes Hill, who beat Belmont Keys 2-1 with goals from Paul Edwards and substitute Chris Tyler, the visitors' response coming from Rob Jones.

Oak Misfits visited Ganglands and took full advantage of the absence of the home side's leading scorers, Wayne Cadmore and Gordon Mansell, to record a 5-2 victory.

In a game where both sides ended with 10 men, Oak Misfits' goals came from Chris Goodrum, Martin Loveridge and a hat-trick from Asa Smith, with both Ganglands goals coming from Tom Bethell.

Oak Misfits' reward for this win is a home semi-final with current holders and fellow Oak team Allstars, who progressed to the semi-final courtesy of a 8-1 victory over Keyz 04.

It was only 2-1 at half-time but an excellent second-half performance saw Allstars notch up six unanswered goals. Oak Allstars' goals came from Jamie Gladwin with two and hat-tricks for Jamie James and James Dean, with Keyz 04 response coming from Mark White.

In the league, Dynamo Ledbury took advantage of Cross Keys cup involvement to go top of the table with a 9-2 victory over visitors Oak Academy.

Gerwyn Lloyd and Richard Punt both notched up hat-tricks, with the other goals coming from Nathan Dixon and Scott Mason plus substitute Simon Watkins, celebrating his 30th birthday by coming on and scoring. Oak Academy's goals came from John Clarke and Dean Kibble.

Bell Inn 98 moved into second place with a 9-1 victory at home to Fromes Hill Reserves with goals from Ashley Jones, two each for Lee Hooper and Dave Herbert and four from Chris Grubb, with the visitors' response coming from Andy Davies.

There was a tight game at Lower Howsell where Morgan Aero 8, despite Matt Ilsley missing a first-half penalty, managed to win 1-0 courtesy of an own goal by Ledbury Rangers' player Simon Cornoch in the second half.

Keys Victoria went down 0-8 to Bell in the Evesham Hospital Cup.

Highlight of this Sunday's games is the top versus second clash at New Street, Ledbury, where Dynamo Ledbury entertain Bell Inn 98.