In the Premier Division the leaders Killingworth drew 0-0 at home to Steels SC and second placed Owton Manor lost 1-0 away to Usworth. The champions Billingham Wanderers won 3-0 at home to close rivals Ferryhill Greyhound and are in fourth spot. Steels SC look to have an excellent chance of winning the championship, they have five home games and three away matches to play and only play two of the top five teams, but lower placed teams always cause problems and points have to be won and not one of the top five can be under-estimated.

In division one although Blackhall and Marden look assured of promotion the third place has still to be filled. Darlington Croft kept their hopes alive by defeating rivals Newton Aycliffe 2-0 at home. They played attacking football, but it was only after 30 minutes the breakthrough occurred when Martin Nicols scored to put them 1-0 up and five minutes later John Dee made it 2-0. The second half saw the Croft side content to hold on to their lead and it became a much more defensive game. Outstanding players were Mark Smith and Stuart Howson.

Langley Park Rams Head are now in relegation trouble, they lost 6-0 away to the leaders Blackhall, who were just too strong for the Rams.

In division two Consett Duke of Wellington turned in another super performance to win 2-1 away to Gateshead Ex-Servicemen and give themselves an excellent chance of avoiding relegation.

In division three Durham C Strollers' run of success ended when they turned in a below par performance to lose 3-1 at home to Darlington Railway who opened the scoring only for Steve Greenham to level but the Railway came back strongly scoring twice to lead 3-1 at the interval and from then on the game was virtually over as they were always in command.

Billingham Town came back to form winning 4-1 away to West Cornforth. They are now in third spot and with games in hand look good for promotion.

In division four newcomers to the league Crook Town won 3-2 away to Trimdon Vets and still have a good chance of promotion as they have games in hand of the teams above them. They dominated the game and led 2-0 at half time. After the restart they went 3-0 up and appeared to be cruising home. Whether they lost their concentration or tired badly is a matter for conjecture as Trimdon came back into the game ten minutes from John Everson scoring two goals to make it 3-2 only for a shocked Crook defence to hang on desperately.

Thornley Celtic were in tremendous form, they went nap against bottom of the lead the Halfway House winning 5-1. They always had the edge and led 2-0 at the interval and kept up the pressure after the restart scoring three more goals to end 5-1 comfortable winners. Marksmen for Thornley were Jimmy Hewitson who grabbed a hat-trick and Henry Willis who notched a brace.

In the local derby match Houghton Mill lost 3-1 at home to Houghton Swifts. It was end to end football all the game.

The Swifts led 1-0 at the interval, the goal being toe-poked home in a goalmouth melee. The restart was similar, but with the Mill having the edge but the Swifts keeper pulled off a series of great saves to deny them and two goals from breakaways put the visitors 3-0 up before Phil Linnaker pulled one back for the Mill from the penalty spot.

Premier Division

P W D L F A Pts

Killingworth A 17 10 6 1 45 18 36

Owton Manor 16 11 1 4 36 24 34

Steels SC 14 10 3 1 41 11 33

Billingham W 16 10 2 4 49 19 32

Ferryhill Grey 17 9 5 3 40 22 32

Seaton Delaval 14 5 3 6 21 21 18

Usworth WMC 16 4 6 6 19 28 18

Penshaw CC 13 4 3 6 16 19 15

Lord Seaham 14 3 4 7 21 27 13

*Grindon Broad 15 3 4 8 23 38 10

Sunderland Catholic 17 2 2 13 26 44 7

Masons Arms 13 0 1 12 11 56 11

Division One

P W D L F A Pts

Blackhall H 15 11 4 0 61 16 37

Marden 13 10 2 1 37 12 32

Wallsend RAOB 16 9 4 2 37 29 31

Wearmouth CW 19 9 3 7 38 39 30

Darlington Croft 18 8 5 5 38 23 29

Newton Aycliffe 18 8 3 7 33 19 27

Wallsend RS 16 6 6 4 36 33 24

Wardley Green 17 6 3 8 33 33 21

Sedgefield 15 5 3 8 30 32 18

*Rams Head 18 7 0 11 30 48 18

Barnes Hotel 19 2 3 14 25 73 9

Willow Pond 19 2 2 15 28 64 8

Division Two

P W D L F A Pts

Touchdown Hotel 17 11 2 4 56 24 35

Hartlepool CC 19 9 4 6 41 30 31

Hebburn DT 18 8 4 6 32 26 28

Consett 20 8 3 9 32 35 27

Brit Telecom 16 7 5 4 43 25 26

Glaxo 14 7 4 3 28 20 25

Spring Gardens 16 7 3 5 38 32 24

Red House WMC 19 7 3 9 37 51 24

Boldon Black Bull 20 6 2 12 33 62 20

*Gateshead Ex-S 15 5 6 4 21 23 18

Moor House 16 5 2 9 28 42 17

Houghton CC 16 4 2 10 22 41 14

Division Three

P W D L F A Pts

+Wynyard Vets 16 13 1 23 60 23 43

Hylton Castle 17 13 1 3 50 25 40

Billingham Town 17 10 4 3 42 22 34

+Wingate 19 9 3 7 45 36 30

Whitley Bay 18 9 3 6 38 32 30

Regency Windows 21 8 3 10 44 52 27

Durham CS 19 8 2 9 36 37 26

West Cornforth 22 8 2 12 44 49 26

Marsden Inn 18 6 4 8 40 43 22

Darlington Rail 19 7 1 11 33 54 22

Hartlepool RNC 20 4 3 13 34 70 15

Steels FC 17 4 2 11 27 34 14

Roker Queen Vic 17 3 4 10 26 44 13

Division Four

P W D L F A Pts

Oddies 16 14 2 0 63 15 44

Hed Deneside 19 12 3 4 62 34 39

Toll Bar 16 9 2 5 33 26 29

Dagmar 19 8 4 5 41 35 29

Houghton Swifts 14 9 1 4 45 23 28

Crook Town 15 9 1 4 36 26 28

Houghton Mill 18 7 6 5 41 37 27

Marsden Vets 21 5 10 6 45 37 25

Thornley Celtic 19 7 4 8 43 39 25

Trimdon Vets 18 6 6 6 40 32 24

Sportsmans A 18 6 2 10 42 61 20

Winstons 17 4 4 9 25 47 16

Wynyard OB 19 3 4 12 21 63 13

Halfway House 20 2 2 16 28 73 8

*Denotes three points deducted

+Denotes result not included

Tomorrow's fixtures

Premier Division

Ferryhill Greyhound v Steels Social

Killingworth Arms v Penshaw Catholic

Masons M'stone Mr. v B'ham CGS Wand.

Sunderland Catholic v Grindon Broadway

Usworth WMC v S'worth Lord Seaham

Division One

Barnes Hotel v Marden

Blackhall Hardwick v Newton Aycliffe

Langley Pk Rams H. v Wallsend RAOB

Willow Pond v Wardley Green

Division Two

Boldon Black Bull v Consett Duke of Well.

Glaxo v Spring Gardens

Touchdown Hotel v Houghton CC

Hebburn DT v G'head Ex-Servicemen

Red House WMC v Hartlepool Catholic

Division Three

DSS Darsley Park v Steels FC

Durham C Strollers v Hartlepool RNC

Hylton Castle WMC v Billingham Town

Marsden Inn v West Cornforth

Regency Windows v Roker Queen Vic

Whitley Bay v Wingate

Division Four

Crook Town v Halfway House

Hedworthfield Deneside v Dagmar FC

Houghton Swifts v Sportsmans Arms

Oddies v Houghton Mill

Taylors v Winstons

Toll Bar v Trimdon Vets

Wynyard OB v Thornley Celtic

Echo Cup, first round

Darlington Railway v Wynyard Vets

Kenny Ball Cup, third round

Owton Manor SC v Wallsend Rising Sun

British Telecom v Darlington Crof