West Auckland striker John Campbell scored on his debut for his new club last night against one of his old clubs in a 3-1 win at Newcastle Benfield, and also put West on top of the league.

Campbell, who arrived from Bedlington last week, scored the opening goal of the game after 26 minutes from a Micky Rae cross, and West increased their lead on 71 minutes when Micky Rae scored with a looping header from Adam Nicholls’ cross.

Benfield pulled a goal back through Jordan Lartey from a free kick. However, West made sure of top spot when Elliott Gardner turned in a corner by Alex Francis with three minutes left. West manager Peter Dixon said: "John fitted straight into the dressing room, which to the club is just as important as playing ability. He looked a little bit rusty, but that's because he hasn't played for eight weeks."

Hebburn lost 2-1 at West Allotment, who are now fifth. Hebburn manager Paul Bennett said: "We started the game well and had to be patient as Allotment set up to defend with a 5-4-1 formation to nullify the way we play football. It worked to an extent as the midfield was so congested. We played “OK” in spells and Allotment never a threat going forward and we had a few half chances in a scrappy first half. We came out the second half and scored a great goal after a total of 21 passes. Then Allotment equalised and from then on we lost our discipline and resulted in a man sent off and us conceding a scrappy goal. Fair play to Allotment whose game plan worked well. However with 10 men we still kept the ball well and were still a threat."

Wednesday. STL Northern League Division One. Newcastle Benfield 1 (Lartey) West Auckland 3 (Campbell, Rae, Gardner). Division Two Esh Winning v Thornaby postponed, Morpeth v Easington postponed, West Allotment 2 (McIvor, Reid) Hebburn 1 (Forsyth).