This week's action saw no change at the top of Division One, even though leaders Spraire RA's game against The Northern Echo was postponed.

The reason that they remained sitting on top of the league, however, was due to the fact that second-placed Nestfield Club were thrashed 5-0 by last year's champions Coundon Forresters. However, Coundon remain in fifth place, as both The Brinkburn and Speedwell picked points up on Sunday. Speedwell could only manage one point, as they were held to a 1-1 draw in a hard-fought encounter with Newton Aycliffe Sports Club, but The Brinkburn remained in a surprising top four slot thanks to a close 3-2 victory over The Springfield. However, it was The Springfield that took an early lead in the game thanks to a goal from veteran Gary Preston, but the lead didn't last long, as man of the match Chris Clack inspired a Brinkburn comeback, as they went into the break 2-1 up thanks to a brace from Stu Wayfer. The Springfield weren't going to go down without a fight, however, and Phil Sheridan brought the scores back level early in the second half as The Springfield rained shots in on Brinkburn 'keeper Darren Peacock. However, the Brinkburn defence stood firm and a goal from Dave Lewis gave them all three points to continue their fine run of results.

Elsewhere in Division One, Team Scania defeated bottom-side Green Dragon 12-2 to help allay their relegation worries, whilst Hoppers Transport were giving a real lesson by their ground-mates, as East End WMC won the battle of Croft by a convincing 11-0 scoreline. Man of the match Jimmy Morris bagged a hat-trick for the EastEnders, as did Antony Weir, whilst Brian Weir notched twice and Jason Jackson, Neil Jackson and Gavin Bell all hit a goal apiece.

In Division Two, Hurworth Albion remain at the top of the league thanks to a 5-2 victory over Bishop Auckland Derby.

However, Bishop Auckland Cricket Club kept the pressure on, as they remain only three points behind the leaders with a game in hand. On Sunday they played host to a Copper Beech DCS side that were looking for a victory to move them back in touch with the top-five. It was DCS that started the strongest as well, as they took a surprise lead through Geoff Coates, who went on to claim a hat-trick in the game, as the Cricket Club started to rue the decision to rest some of their star-men. However, Antony Jaques bagged a brace to bring the Cricket Club back into the game, and goals from Alan Lamb, Craig Best and Kevin Slater were enough to help the Cricket Club avoid an upset as they eventually ran out as 5-3 victors.

Third placed Shuttle & Loom were left without a game this week, but Jack Horners were unable to score enough goals in their game against Smith & Allan to overtake them on goal difference. However, that's not to say that the Jack's struggled in front of goal, as they still managed to rack up a 13-0 victory, after taking an 8-0 lead into the half-time break. Even goalkeeper Ted Halstead, on a rare foray as an outfield player, bagged a goal in the second half, to accompany goals scored by Blewitt (2), Cosgrove (2), Donahue (2), Vernon, Russell, Tutty, Thraves, Duffy and veteran Ian Knox.

Meanwhile, Allstars also picked up a big victory, as they completely outplayed Northern Spirit to run-out 9-1 victors. Three goals apiece from Darren Kokes and Gavin Rose set Allstars on their way, whilst Michael Bland, Aron Dunham and the exceptional Daniel Hanafin also found the net. Dave Brown notched Spirit's only goal, which remarkably made the score 1-1 at the time.

Spirit's woes were made even worse as they found out that they had moved back into the bottom two, as Greyhound leap-frogged them thanks to an 8-4 victory over Sadberge. Gary Brown led the way for The Greyhound with a hat trick, whilst Nigel Rea and Stuart Fawcett hit two apiece, and John Hughes also notched. Mark Grant (2), Paul Huggins and Mike Hilary all got on the score-sheet for a Sadberge side that are now precariously close to the drop zone, due, in the main, to their poor recent form.

In Division Three, AFC Orange maintained their status as leaders. This week's victims were a recently resurgent Pizza Perfekt side, as the Pizzaboyz succumbed 2-1. Stu Cottam opened the scoring for Orange, after an excellent move, and it was no more than Orange had deserved, after being cruelly denied by the crossbar earlier in the half. However, the Pizzaboyz managed to grab an equaliser soon after the interval, thanks to a fine free-kick from Darryl West, and for a while it looked as though Orange were in for a shock as the Pizzaboyz pushed for a victory. However, as both teams looked set to settle for a draw, Orange were rewarded for their hard work as Chris Park applied the finish to a fine ball from Steven Walton to make the final score 2-1, a score which extends their lead at the top of the division to five points.

However, the reason for Orange's lead being increased was mainly due to the Yates's Wine Lodge's 4-0 defeat at Canney Hill Athletic, who replaced them in second place.

In the remaining Division Three games, Nestfield Seconds kept up their recent unbeaten record as they drew 2-2 with Faverdale, whilst Biglins News beat The Falchion 2-0 and AXA Insurance beat Hogans 6-0, thanks to four goals from Barry Foster and one apiece from Chris White and Andy Robson.

Division One

P W D L F A Pts GD

Spraire RA 10 7 2 1 48 15 23 33

Nestfield Club 12 7 1 4 40 34 22 6

Speedwell 12 7 0 5 51 28 21 23

Brinkburn 12 6 2 4 48 30 20 18

*Coundon Foresters 10 7 1 2 58 10 19 48

East End WMC 9 6 0 3 44 22 18 22

Newton Aycliffe Sc 9 5 3 1 27 13 18 14

The Northern Echo 11 5 1 5 33 44 16 -11

Team Scania 11 4 0 7 42 67 12 -25

* Springfield 12 3 1 8 28 53 7 -25

Hoppers Transport 11 1 2 8 19 63 5 -44

Green Dragon 11 1 0 10 22 81 3 -59

Division Two

P W D L F A Pts GD

Hurworth Albion 11 10 0 1 59 10 30 49

BA Cricket Club 10 9 0 1 75 18 27 57

Shuttle & Loom 9 8 0 1 48 10 24 38

Jack Horners 12 8 0 4 52 16 24 36

All Stars 10 6 1 3 58 18 19 40

Copper Beech DCS 12 5 0 7 33 35 15 -2

BA The Derby 12 4 2 6 61 45 14 16

Sadberge 11 4 0 7 42 44 12 -2

Greyhound 11 3 0 8 28 46 9 -18

Northern Spirit 12 2 1 9 26 57 7 -31

Smith & Allan 12 0 0 12 8 191 0 -183

Division Three

P W D L F A Pts GD

AFC Orange 12 11 0 1 47 9 33 38

Canney Hill Athletic 12 9 1 2 50 17 28 33

Yates Wine Lodge 13 9 0 4 46 31 27 15

Royal British Legion 12 7 2 3 48 24 26 24

Pizza Perfekt 13 7 1 5 51 33 22 18

Nestfield Seconds 13 5 4 4 34 33 19 1

Biglins News 12 5 2 5 39 27 17 12

Faverdale 12 4 1 7 36 44 13 -8

Newton Cap 11 4 1 6 30 53 13 -23

The Falchion 13 3 1 9 26 44 10 -18

AXA Insurance 13 3 0 10 26 47 9 -21

Hogans 13 0 0 13 14 86 0 -72

Bowman Anderson Accountants Spennymoor Sunday League

NEW Masons are back at the top of the First Division this week after a comfortable win over Croxdale.

Old Shildon, who went top last week on goal difference, were in League Cup action last week and now drop to second, while Newton Aycliffe and Huntsman were also in cup action.

It gave the Masons the ideal chance to go straight back to the top - and they did that with a 4-1 victory.

Thomas Louden, Mark Greenwood, Dean Merchant and Martin Joyce netted Masons' goals, and manager Stuart Thompson said: "I think the result was a true reflection of the game. They had a good spell in the first half, but we were too strong for them and we were really the only team that looked like scoring."

In Division Two, Broompark Loves maintained their push on leaders Spennymoor Thorns - who were also in the League Cup last week - with a 3-0 win over the North Briton.

Brent Naylor grabbed a hat-trick for the Loves to seal the win, while Terry Nelson was man of the match. Brit's man of the match was Mark Bowman.

Third-placed Postchaise also maintained their promotion push with a narrow 2-1 win at Victoria.

Phil Dowd and Brian Denham scored their goals - with Denham getting man of the match - and Mickey Madden scored for Victoria, with Steve Burkin man of the match.

Elsewhere in the division, Binchester Social failed to capitalise on their brilliant win over Thorns two weeks ago when they went down 3-1 at Brawns Den, and Boot & Shoe went down 4-1 at home to Green Tree.

Most teams were in League Cup action last week, and Old Shildon, Eldon Lane, Huntsman, Thorns and Royal George all proceeded to the quarter-finals.

Shildon beat Salvins thanks to goals by Phillip Appleby (two) and Paul Whensley, with Darren Plaice man of the match. John Robson scored for Salvins and Anthony Ward was man of the match.

Eldon Lane comfortably beat Masons United 6-1. Richard Pallister scored a hat-trick, while there was one a-piece for Ben Cooper, Ian McGowan, Nigel Kestell and Ben Cooper. Neil Iley was man of the match. David Maughan scored for United, with Peter Smith getting man of the match.

Huntsman beat Binchester Hotel 8-0 with goals by Martin Walker (4), Marc De Lucia (2) and Morgan Fielding (2). Andy Clay was man of the match.

The Thorns won 2-1 at Two Blues. Keith Hirst and Mark Russell scored the winning goals, with Paul Gargett man of the match. Adrian Brown scored for Blues and was also man of the match.

Royal George gained their QF slot with a 4-2 win over the Black Horse. Darryl Meadows, Jeff Dixon, David Leighton and Richard Sowerby all scored for the George, with Peter Wood getting man of the match. Christian Schofield and Allan Barratt scored for the Horse, and Graham Thomson was man of the match.

New Masons and Newton Aycliffe will battle it out for one of the other quarter-final places after Aycliffe won their first round tie last Sunday.

They inflicted a 10-0 win over The Grand, with Paul Stevens (4), David Muir (2 and man of the match), Steve Moran, Craig Evans, Mark Armstrong and Andrew Lee all getting on the scoresheet. Andrew Dawson was man of the match for the Grand.

Elsewhere in the first round, Shildon Athletic thrashed Locomotion 9-2 with goals by Darren Dodds (3 and man of the match), Jeff Fieldson (2), Adam Potter (2), Allan Bailey and Kevin Kavanagh. Chris Bird scored for the Loco, with Steve Fawcett winning the man of the match award.

Meanwhile, Europa booked their place in the second round after they beat Horndale 9-1.

Outstanding second round ties: Brandon v Europa, Croxdale v Pit Laddie, New Masons v Newton Aycliffe and Shildon Athletic v Binchester Social.

l The League would like to remind all clubs that the December meeting will be held next Wednesday (December 12th) in Spennymoor United's clubhouse, Brewery Field. Ticket money for the Christmas Prize Draw is due in before the meeting, and the draw will be made at the end of the meeting.

l If you'd like to include your games in future reports for the Spennymoor Sunday League, e-mail your match details to: martinwalker50 New Masons 4, Croxdale 1.

Division Two: Broompark Loves 3, North Briton 0; Brawns Den 3, Binchester Social 1; Victoria 1, Postchiase 2; Boot & Shoe 1, Green Tree 4.

League Cup round one: Locomotion 2, Shildon Athletic 9; Europa 9, Horndale 1; The Grand 0, Newton Aycliffe 10.

League Cup tound rwo: Old Shildon 3, Salvins 1; Masons United 1, Eldon Lane 6; Binchester Hotel 0, Huntsman 8; Two Blues 1, Spennymoor Thorns 2; Royal George 4, Black Horse 2.

Division One

P W D L F A Pts

New Masons 12 9 1 2 44 26 28

Old Shildon 12 8 1 3 50 19 25

Newton Aycliffe 10 8 1 1 46 17 25

Huntsman 11 7 3 1 41 24 24

The Grand 11 7 1 3 31 22 22

Royal George 12 6 1 5 30 32 19

Europa 9 5 1 3 26 23 16

Eldon Lane 11 4 3 4 28 31 15

Salvins 11 4 1 6 36 28 13

Laceys 11 3 2 6 28 43 11

Brandon 13 1 2 10 22 59 5

Croxdale Perstorp 12 1 1 10 15 45 4

Horndale 11 0 2 9 19 47 2

Division Two

P W D L F A Pts

Spennymoor Thorns 14 13 0 1 83 18 39

Broompark Loves 13 11 1 1 70 12 34

Postchaise 15 9 1 5 49 41 28

*Black Horse 12 9 1 2 53 25 25

Binchester Social Club 11 8 1 2 30 20 25

Brawns Den 12 7 0 5 39 27 21

Boot & Shoe 14 6 1 7 39 53 19

Masons United 13 5 3 5 29 31 18

Green Tree 13 6 0 7 31 38 18

North Briton 15 5 0 10 40 46 15

Locomotion 12 4 1 7 36 38 13

Shildon Athletic 13 4 1 8 31 48 13

Victoria 14 3 3 8 22 56 12

Two Blues 12 3 1 8 29 52 10

Pit Laddie 13 2 0 11 26 54 9

Binchester Hotel 14 2 0 12 22 70 6

*Denotes three points deducted