THE magic of the FA Cup produced a huge upset on Saturday when Winsford United pulled off the biggest victory in their history by knocking out Unibond Premier Division neighbours Witton Albion.

Winsford worked hard for their much deserved 1-0 victory in the FA Cup first round qualifier and were unlucky not to embarrass their local rivals further.

Winsford produced a magnificent first half performance that seemed to take Witton by surprise and prevented the home side from ever getting out of first gear.

The only goal of the game came after 15 minutes when Ian Givin latched on to a hopeful long pass before nonchalantly lifting the ball over the helpless Witton goalkeeper, Paul Gibson, and into the net.

Winsford could have extended their lead further if it was not for some tremendous saves from Gibson.

His best save came on 23 minutes when a sublime piece of control by Winsford right back, Robert Hope, took him clear of his marker before unleashing a magnificent drive from 30 yards which was tipped round the post.

Witton came out fighting in the second half but despite having the greater share of possession never looked like breaking through the rock solid Winsford defence.

Witton were limited to speculative shots from distance that rarely troubled the exceptional Winsford goalkeeper, Matt Conkie.

Witton's best opportunity to score came just before the hour mark when the tireless Mike Mossley was sent down the right wing and the centre forward put in a dangerous low cross to Lee Madin.

Madin got to the cross first but his shot from just outside the six-yard area was miraculously deflected over the crossbar.

The final whistle was greeted with anger by the Witton supporters who suffered the embarrassment of being knocked out by their local rivals three divisions below them.