In the Kenny Ball Cup third round Glaxo were desperately unlucky they lost 2-1 at home to the unbeaten Barnes Hotel.

Glaxo playing attacking football took the lead after ten minutes when Geoff White slotted home a pass from jenny Heron. Barnes tightened up their defence and no further goals came and half time ended 1-0. The second half saw the game swing from end to end but with only three minutes remaining Barnes beat the offside trap to level and in the last kick of the match grabbed the winner.

Cleveland Bridge held too many big guns for the Roker Queen Vic winning 6-3 at home despite all the Queen Vic's effort. The Bridge always held the edge and never looked like losing.

Trimdon Veterans lost 0-4 to Premier side Lord Seaham but were never disgraced. The first half they played magnificently holding them to a 0-0 draw. After the restart age told and the Veterans tired allowing the younger Lord Seaham side to control and win the game. Scorers were Rowntree, Davy Jones and a brace from Stephenson.

Langley Park kept their hopes alive of escaping relegation by defeating fellow strugglers Gateshead Ex Servicemen 2-0 away from home. They led 2-0 at the interval and just had that little bit extra to see them through. They are still in the Kenny Ball Cup so that next week's cup game against Newton Aycliffe will be a welcome change to relegation battle.

In Division Three Durham City Strollers move into third place through winning 3-1 to promotion contenders Hebburn. The Strollers incidentally have not lost a league game since they went down 4-2 to the Touchdown Hotel on December 8. Quite a remarkable winning run.

West Cornforth drew 1-1 away to Regency Windows. The first half ended goalless. The restart saw John Purves put Regency Windows 1-0 up but Cornforth drew level through Jimmy Hudson and the match ended in a hard fought 1-1 draw. Keeper Steve Jennings was outstanding.

Wynyard Veterans never really found their true form and had to play second fiddle in their home game losing 2-0 to Steels.

In Division Four Darlington Railway kept up their promotion drive by defeating the White Horse Inn 4-0 at home courtesy of Barry Fawcett, Paul Drennan, Chris McMasters and Wicks. They are in fifth position but have four games in hand of their rivals and as three are promoted look quite good.

Wingate are already champions but Hartlepool RNC, Billingham Town and North Shields Veterans will supply two of the sides to be promoted, it should be quite an interesting finish.

Premier League

P W L D F A Pts

Steels Sc 17 11 2 4 42 24 35

Killingworth A 18 11 2 5 38 31 35

Billingham W 17 10 4 3 43 25 34

Owton Manor 19 10 4 5 45 34 34

Ferryhill Greyhound 19 8 4 7 28 26 28

Seaton Delaval 17 7 3 7 24 21 24

Lord Seaham 13 6 3 4 21 20 21

Oenshaw CC 19 6 3 10 21 27 21

Marden 21 6 1 14 35 49 19

Blackhall H 21 5 4 12 28 49 19

Usworth WMC 18 5 3 10 22 28 18

N Police 15 4 3 8 18 25 15

Division One

P W L D F A Pts

Masons Arms 20 13 3 4 60 26 42

Grindon Broad 21 13 2 6 61 33 41

S'land CC 19 11 3 5 52 33 36

Wallsend RAOB 20 10 5 5 49 28 35

Sedgefield 18 10 3 5 39 30 33

Wardley Green 19 8 6 5 33 28 30

Wallsend RS 21 7 4 10 33 45 25

Rams Head 21 5 7 9 32 49 22

Wearmouth 18 6 3 9 20 32 21

Board Inn 18 3 6 9 26 53 15

Gateshead Ex S 18 2 6 10 28 44 12

Brit Telecom 19 2 4 13 26 56 10

Division Two

P W L D F A Pts

Barnes Hotel 18 18 0 0 60 13 54

Newton Aycliffe 20 11 4 5 47 30 39

Cleveland Bridge 20 11 1 8 50 46 34

Spring Gardens 21 10 3 8 47 42 33

Houghton CC 19 9 1 9 37 38 28

Millstone Wand 19 7 6 6 46 47 27

Red House WMC 17 7 4 6 31 28 25

Hartlepool CC 19 7 3 9 37 43 24

Glaxo 18 5 4 9 32 36 19

Boldon BB 20 5 4 11 36 48 19

Roker Queen Vic 19 3 3 14 29 65 12

Darsley Park 20 3 3 14 29 65 12

Division Three

P W L D F A Pts

Consett CC 19 7 1 1 59 13 52

Touchdown Hotel 18 12 1 5 63 34 37

Durham CS 22 11 2 9 54 49 35

Hebburn DT 19 10 4 5 58 40 34

Marsden Inn 20 10 3 7 47 40 33

Steels FC 19 8 6 5 37 28 30

Wynyard Vets 22 9 3 10 42 46 30

Hylton Castle 18 7 7 4 36 33 28

West Cornforth 24 7 5 12 41 48 26

Regency Windows 22 7 5 10 40 51 26

Rockcliffe A 16 5 4 7 25 28 19

Taylors 20 5 4 11 35 44 19

Willow Road 19 5 2 12 27 45 17

Oddies 22 3 1 18 31 83 10

Division Four

P W L D F A Pts

Wingate 20 18 1 1 65 19 55

Hartlepool RNC 22 13 2 7 52 47 41

Billingham Town 22 11 2 9 65 40 35

Dagmar 23 9 6 8 52 43 33

Darlington Rail 18 9 3 6 53 42 30

North Shields Vets 17 9 4 4 58 44 31

Sportsmans Arms 21 8 6 7 41 36 30

Thornley Celtic 22 8 2 12 36 52 26

Winstons 20 6 6 8 34 40 24

Halfway House 21 7 3 11 41 52 24

Trimdon Vets 21 5 4 12 25 54 19

Houghton Mill 21 5 4 12 27 49 19

White Horse Inn 24 3 4 15 40 60 17

Eskdale and

Cleveland League

In the first semi-final of the Eileen Hodgson Bowl, Highland Laddie and Redcar Mackinlay Park began strongly with both teams looking for an opening. On 15 minutes Brian Combellack set up Adam Booth to slot home. Laddie now pressed hard and Booth returned the compliment to set up Combellack who neatly squeezed the ball past the on-rushing keeper. Mackinlay Park seemed to have no answers to a buoyant Laddie who went into a 3-0 half time lead when a Neesam free-kick floated in. The second half was all Mackinlay Park with crosses and shots raining in on the Laddie goal. Keeper Jamieson saved brilliantly from Blair and then tipped over superbly from a Johnson header. The inevitable goal came on 60 minutes with a McGloin header at the far post. Laddie on a breakaway went further ahead when Brian Combellack squared the ball back for Steven Combellack to hammer home. Combellack crossed to totally kill the game and put Laddie through to their second final.

Boosbeck Ath entertained Loftus in a close fought league game. The home team played really well for the first 25 minutes creating three or four chances to score only to see Thompson in the Loftus goal make some excellent saves. A Loftus break on 20 minutes saw them take the lead when a good cross was headed home by Wilson.

Boosbeck continued to press but were caught out again by Wilson who neatly beat the offside trap. Dean Winter brought Boosbeck back into the game when, after resisting three strong challenges, he slotted the ball home. The second half continued to be competitive but neither side managed to find the target leaving Loftus to take the points.

Brotton playing at home to Lingdale Utd began strongly and took the lead in the 20th minute when McMillan headed in from a well taken corner. Lingdale had the best of then play for the rest of the first half but it was Brotton who scored again, with just a minute of the half remaining when a breakaway led to Brown neatly slotting home. The second half saw Brotton sitting back on their lead but again on the break a Keegans shot from 18-yards found the target. Lingdale pulled two goals back within ten minutes when some good attacking play led to Woodhall and Evans finding the goal. With 15 minutes left Brotton took the game out of the visitors' reach when Keegans scored his second following some good one-two play with Brown saw a shot hit.

Grangetown were once again lucky not to concede points when they found themselves in a tight game against Anchor Inn. Anchor packed the defence and it was midway through the first half before the league leaders found an opening when Sharp managed to find a way through to score. With Anchor continuing to defend well Grangetown were really up against it but nervously held on to their slender lead.

Great Ayton beat the Huntsman after a competitive 90 minutes. Ayton failed to convert a penalty in the 20th minute when Murray's shot was well saved by then Huntsman keeper. The visitors who won the midfield battle in the first session took the lead on 30 minutes when James unfortunately put the ball into his own net after continual pressure from the Huntsman attack. At half time Ayton brought on the two Grange brothers, David and Jonathan, who then dominated the midfields and the home team took control.

Ripley equalised when a long speculative shot found the net then took the lead 15 minutes later when David Grange headed home after good work by Scott down the left. Minutes later Murray should have put the score beyond Huntsman's reach but missed from close range, however Ayton held on for a deserved win.

Grosmont set off like a steam train against Staithes having two failed shots on target within the first two minutes. Staithes players eventually woke up with Calvert dictating from midfield, knocking some excellent through balls and creating chances for the forwards. Staithes took the lead with some good interpassing play, Glen Smith finishing off an excellent moves Staithes them piled on the pressure and goals from Calvert, Gibson and Rob Smith gave them a comfortable lead. After making three substitutes Staithes shape and discipline was scrambled allowing a very determined Grosmont to get two goals back from a tireless Will Woods.

Whitby Fishermans were completely out of form in a scrappy game which saw Lealholm always the better side. Two goals in the first 15 minutes from Jemson and Dent gave Lealholm the 2-0 ;lead which they held to the break. While Whitby reshaped in the second half and had a few chances Howes netted Lealholm's third and killed off the game.

P W D L F A Pts

Grangetown 22 21 0 1 88 19 63

Staithes 22 17 2 3 77 37 53

Huntsman 23 13 2 8 68 44 41

Loftus Ath 18 11 4 3 51 37 37

Brotton 23 9 8 8 52 50 35

Highland Laddie 22 10 3 9 58 57 33

Redcar Mack Park 21 8 5 8 45 39 29

*Lingdale Utd 22 9 4 9 51 58 28

Gt Ayton 22 7 8 9 47 53 27

Whitby Fishermens 24 6 7 11 54 50 25

Boosbeck Ath 20 6 3 11 36 38 20

Lealholm 18 6 2 10 38 38 20

*Anchor Inn 20 6 3 11 32 45 18

*Grosmont 20 5 3 12 36 58 15

*Boosbeck Utd 22 4 3 15 27 65 12

Hinderwell 21 3 3 15 24 76 12

*Denotes three points deducted

Wensleydale Creamery League

Results: Reeth 1, Hawes United 5; Carperby 2, Spennithorne 0; Hawes B 0, Richmond Buck 0; Richmond Mavericks 12, Hipwell 0; Leyburn United 0, Swale Travaux 0.

Dales Cup

Results: Middleham 1, Bowes 3.