TIMPERLEY'S men missed the opportunity to climb the Men's North of England League Premier Division on Saturday.

The Stockport Road club slipped to a 14-7 defeat at home to unbeaten league leaders Stockport. Victory would have seen Mo Wright's team leapfrog Manchester Waconians to third place in the table.

But Timperley do stay fourth on goal difference although Heaton Mersey won and went level on points.

"We played OK in patches, but Stockport were just too strong for us," said a Timperley spokesperson.

"It was always going to be hard to beat Stockport because they're playing so well this season and haven't lost.

"But we're having a good season so far and want to finish in the top three. To do that we'll have to keep working hard and win some big matches during the course of the rest of the season."

Richard Wilson and Chris Bland both netted hat-tricks as last year's Senior Flags finalists Stockport made it a maximum 18 points to stay six points clear of title-rivals Cheadle.

Joe Singleton and Charlie Cox bagged braces, with Steve Howe, Dave Bryant and Paul Fullerton also on the scoresheet, while Mike Armstrong was unfortunate to score an own-goal for Timperley.

Armstong top-scored for Timperley with two goals, while Rob Macklin, James Shuttleworth, Steve Parkinson, Will Sandy and Lee Warburton also found the back of the net.

But Stockport led 3-1, 5-2 and 9-4, before winning the final quarter 5-3 for full points once again.

Timperley A battled bravely away to Poynton A in Division Four, but were beaten 8-5, while Timperley B dug deep to register an impressive 11-6 home win against Poynton B in Division Five.

Meanwhile, it proved to be a bad weekend for Timperley Ladies. The defending Women's North of England Premier League champions stumbled to a shock 4-3 defeat at home to Wirral.

Both title-rivals Heaton Mersey and Stockport won, keeping the league race wide open.