MORRIS Street ended their near three-month lay-off by booking a spot in the George Thomas/Don Rogers Cup semi-final.

Bob Ferris’ men had not kicked a ball in anger since December 12 before they finally returned to action on Saturday, making the trip to Division One’s bottom side R&D United in this quarter-final clash.

Despite having the lion’s share of the possession throughout the 90 minutes, Street could only hit the target twice as they ran out 2-0 winners.

“It was great to finally get back out there and blow the cobwebs away, and in all honesty, we were very comfortable,” Ferris said.

“We had most of the possession and I’d say we had around 40 shots on goal.

“That has been our biggest problem this year; our conversion ratio is 10:1. If we would have taken all our chances, then we would have been top of the league.”

Nathan Wallace fired Morris Street into the lead against R&D with 26 minutes on the clock.

The visitors, who will now face Premier Division outfit DJC Marlborough in the semi-final on Saturday, March 12, had to wait until midway through the second half for James Turpie to secure his side’s passage.

“We have been struggling for players recently,” Ferris added. “Hopefully we can get a squad together for the semi-final.

“We had a couple of players make their debut for us on Saturday. They have been signed on for us since December.

“We have got a tough game in the semi-final. DJC are a Premier Division side and they have beaten a couple of teams in our league to get there, so all we can do is go out there and give it our best.”

Tawny Owl maintained their stranglehold at the top of the Premier Division as they crushed Spectrum, who had Craig Kelly and Hugo Teixeira on target, 7-2.

Swindon Spitfires saw their lead at the top of Division One cut to nine points as they crash landed at Bassett Bulldogs following a 2-1 defeat.

Tom Orton put the hosts into the lead before Barry Winslow’s side levelled, however, a Wayne Matthews’ penalty secured the points for Bassett.

With Spitfires spluttering, second-placed Swindon Centurians put Chiseldon to the sword with a 6-1 thrashing.

Chris Birkett was chief destroyer with a hat-trick, while Daniel Hall netted twice and Gareth Walton added the other. Tom Davis’ strike was scant consolation for the visitors.

Meanwhile, a Tom Goodey brace sealed a 2-0 win for Moredon on their visit to Ramsbury.