It seems Middlesbrough are not the only local club to break their Cup 'duck' this season. Many congratulations to Northern League side Billingham Town who, on Easter Monday, won their first ever trophy, defeating Bishop Auckland in the final of the Durham Challenge Cup.

Another team taking the local scene by storm is the Under-14s rugby team from Barnard Castle School. Obviously spurred on by the efforts of Jonny Wilkinson and co in Australia, the lads have already won three competitions this season. Their coach puts it down to hard work and training in all weathers, a lesson to be learnt by all of us maybe!

Obviously working very hard is seven-year-old Sam Smith from Hurworth who is following in the talented footsteps of his brother. Members of the Kim Chung Dokwan club in Darlington, Sam has recently been awarded his white belt whilst 11-year-old brother Tom will shortly be going for his black belt. Hope the two brothers never fall out!

I was really interested to read in Local Heroes about the partnership between Newton Aycliffe Youth FC and Lakeside FC. The former will now act as a feeder club for the Woodham based Sunday team, Lakeside offering the next step for young players when their youth careers end. This is a really innovative partnership and one which should benefit the youngsters tremendously. Aycliffe already has links with Northern League clubs and now can also offer players who may not quite reach that level an opportunity to progress. This seems to happen in professional football on the continent, where a lower league team acts as a feeder club for one of the big name teams. Promising players have the opportunity to learn their trade in less pressured environments but still 'belong' to the big club. Both teams benefit as the lower team gets an excellent young player for a season or so and his higher profile employers can then call on a much more experienced player. This doesn't seem to have become common practice in the Premier League yet, although one or two clubs do have informal links with others, particularly abroad.

Don't forget to join me and the rest of the team this Saturday on 96.6tfm as Boro go to relegation haunted Wolves looking for another three points towards a record breaking season, Hartlepool aim to continue the momentum with the visit of struggling Notts County and Darlington face high-flying Oxford, desperate for points to stay away from the bottom of the Third Division.

The fun starts with Ditchy, myself and Terry Cochrane at noon then we get down to the serious business live from all the local games from 2pm. Finally, call Tom Davies to chew over the day's games from 5pm.