Daisy Hill moved into the quarter-finals of the Bolton Hospital Cup with a 4-3 win against Tempest United in a thrilling first-round tie at the Plumb Factory Stadium on Monday night.

After a frantic first half, Daisy led 3-2 at the break, with Sam Twist, Jake O’Brien from the penalty spot and Nick Hepple on target for Daisy, and Jordan Coop and Aaron Thorpe replying for Tempest.

Coop’s second of the night levelled the scores with 10 minutes remaining, but straight from the restart Hepple struck again to give Daisy a 4-3 lead that they held until the final whistle.

Daisy manager Lee Hill admitted afterwards his side had been given a tough test over the 90 minutes.

“For the last couple of days this game was on my mind, as it was a potential banana skin,” said Hill.

“I know what Tempest are about, I know the management team well, and I knew they are a good side after watching a couple of their recent games, which they won comfortably.

“We knew they would raise their game as they’d want to progress in the competition like we do, and it’s a local derby as well, so although we play in the higher league, league positions were never going to come into it.

“In the end, we’ve played in one of the most competitive games we’ve had all season and won it.

“A few times this season we have scored and conceded goals quickly, so it was good to see the lads had the character to bounce back quickly after we lost the second and third goals. They dug in well, and some moments of individual quality settled the game for us.

“There were some good performances out there, some not so good, so we need to focus on trying to raise our game a bit and look forward to our next game, against Garswood United on Wednesday in the Atherton Charity Cup semi-final”.

Tempest started on the front foot and took the lead in the ninth minute when the Daisy defence failed to deal with an Aaron Thorpe cross aimed at the far post, and skipper Coop stole in at the back post to side-foot home from close range.

Daisy hit back and after Jamie Ramwell had a shot beaten out by the keeper, and Jack Iley just missed the target with a free-kick, the game turned in Daisy’s favour with two goals in the space of two minutes at the midway point in the half.

The equaliser came when the keeper failed to hold a well struck Hepple shot, and Twist pounced to tap in the loose ball from close range.

Straight from the restart, Daisy regained possession, and a strong run into the box from Hepple was ended when he was tripped by a covering defender.

The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and Daisy skipper O’Brien made no mistake with the spot-kick.

But as the half wore on Tempest enjoyed the better of possession and chances, and Daisy keeper Morgan Newns made a great block when he denied Jordan Pendlebury in a one-on-one, before pulling off a smart save down low to the near post to keep out a shot from the same player.

However, the Tempest pressure paid off five minutes from half time, when Thorpe levelled with a fine solo goal, picking up a pass wide on the left, before racing through on goal to beat Newns with an angled drive into the far corner.

But the final action of a pulsating first half saw Daisy take the lead once more, when Hepple rose to power a header from Ben Unsworth’s right-wing cross into the top corner.

The pace of the game did not drop in the second half, although defences were on top for the opening period, and clear chances were few and far between.

At the midway point in the half, Daisy’s Alex Dodd found the back of the net, but goal celebrations were cut short by the flag of the assistant referee, and as both sides pushed forward in the closing stages, the final 10 minutes proved to be riveting entertainment as the game reached an exciting finale.

With nine minutes remaining, Tempest levelled the tie once again, when Coop slotted home his second goal of the game from a left-wing cross.

Incredibly, just as they had done in the first half, Daisy moved back in front with a goal straight from the restart, when the ball was played through to Hepple, who cut inside the covering defender and curled a delightfully placed left-foot shot past the keeper

A minute later Unsworth came agonisingly close to adding a fifth goal for Daisy when he hit the bar with a cracking shot, but for the remainder of the game, Tempest predictably pushed forward in a desperate attempt to level, and the Daisy defence led a charmed life at times, most notably when Jack Berry hit the outside of the Daisy post with a defensive header as he stooped to block a cross from the right wing.

But after eight minutes of stoppage time, the referee finally brought an eventful game to a close, and Daisy will now host Walshaw Sports in the last eight of the competition.

* There were two other first-round ties in the Hospital Cup on Monday evening, and two goals from Ben Lilley earned CMB a 2-1 win against Horwich RMI at Chew Moor. They will now host North Walkden in the quarter-finals.

At Crilly Park, an early goal from Dan Lenehan set Atherton LR on the way to a 4-1 victory over Stoneclough. The visitors levelled before half time, but second-half goals from Lewis Adams, Cristian Mukoko and a late Luke Nicholls penalty sealed victory for the home side.

LR will now welcome Hindsford in the quarter-final, who beat Tottington United 3-0 last Thursday evening. Ade Menezes scored twice for the Tyldesley side.