FORMER professional footballers renewed local rivalries, but amid the calmer surrounds of the golf course yesterday.

Twenty-four ex-players from England's six most northerly senior sides showed their competitive instincts have not waned, even if their legs are not quite what they once were.

Quartets of former Newcastle United, Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Hartlepool United, Darlington, and Carlisle United players took part in the second Cock of the North Golf Tournament.

The old pros showed their prowess down the fairways and on the greens of the Championship course at the Ramside Hall club, at Carrville, near Durham.

But when the scorecards were tallied up, following the Stableford-style event, it was the Darlington old boys, Kevan Smith, Kevin Stonehouse, and Mark and Neil Maddison, who emerged winners.

The ex-Quakers, runners-up to Middlesbrough at last year's inaugural tournament, ended with a score of 137 yesterday, a single point ahead of the second-placed ex-Sunderland quartet, of Jim Montgomery, Dick Malone, John MacPhail and Lee Howey.

They were presented with the Roseberry Rose Bowl prize by Mr Montgomery in the clubhouse ceremony after the event.

Mr Stonehouse also took the Nearest the Pin award for his near miss on the par-three 15th hole, while ex-Newcastle player David Barton received the prize for the highest individual score, of 40-points.

Organiser Winston Young, secretary of Sunderland Former Players' Association, said: "It's been an excellent day. Everyone seems to have enjoyed it and there's been some very good golf played.

"We had a real mix of characters, and the course and facilities in general, were superb."

He added that the Cock of the North Tournament now appears an event firmly etched in the calendar of the region's footballing legends.