Craggs nets Norton winner

Eldon created the first chance of the game, making Norton goalkeeper work hard. There were several chances for both teams in the first half, but both keepers were in fine form and made some excellent saves. In the second half, with Norton playing against a strong wind, they were the most dominant side, hitting the post on several occasions and keeping the Eldon goalkeeper on his toes. Norton kept the Eldon chance to a minimum in the second half breaking up a lot of Eldon's attacks, but it took until nearly the last kick of the game before the deadlock was broken when defender Max Craggs took an early throw into Matthew Simcox who held off an Eldon player and laid the ball back for Max Craggs to lob the goalkeeper from just outside the Eldon box to give Norton a great 1-0 win.

Newton Aycliffe Sports Club

Straight from the kick-off a pace was set by both Aycliffe Under-9s and Cumby Arms that was highly entertaining to watch. Both teams equalled each other in all areas but Cumby had a higher percentage of possession. This possession eventually found the net with a well-taken move finished strongly. Aycliffe pressed the game forward and only strong defending from Cumby saved the equaliser from a quick passing move set up by Kurt Matthews. With both teams throwing everything into the game Aycliffe conceded a second with a low shot catching the keeper off-guard. Aycliffe pressed again and scored a well-worked goal finished by Ryan Draffan. With time approaching the break a forward move from the visitors saw a series of half clearances find the net after a scramble in the goalmouth.

Even with a strong defending display from Connor Lyon & Thomas Iley, working hard, breaking down attacks and setting up the midfield for forward moves the visitors struck again with another goalmouth scramble. Still Aycliffe's game continued at the same pace as at the start of the game, which resulted in Kurt Matthews finishing soundly to bring the home side back in contention. Cumby pressed forward and created enough space for a cross and even tight marking in the box couldn't stop the finish. Jack Slatcher as usual worked tirelessly in both forward and defensive areas of the field supporting front man Ben Stevens who collected a through ball and finished well to still give hope. Only excellent keeping from Thomas Prior with a double save at the end pushed the game to full time. Final score was 5-3 to Cumby. Aycliffe scorers were man of the match Ryan Draffan, Kurt Matthews, Ben Stevens.

Team: Thomas Prior, Thomas Iley, Connor Lyon, Kurt Matthews (captain), Jack Slatcher, Ryan Draffan, Ben Stevens. Sub: Lewis Cole.

Brompton Juniors

Ia bright start to the first game of the New Year between Brompton Under-10 A and Whinney Banks B saw Brompton control the midfield for much of this game through Chris Holmes, Thomas Armstrong and Robert Maclean and created more scoring chances than in recent matches.

The first chance arose when Mark Watkinson slid a ball through to Robert Maclean and with only the goalkeeper to beat Robert was foiled by the legs of the diving keeper. There followed three corners in quick succession which were cleared comfortably by Whinney Banks. The third was cleared towards Tom Armstrong who placed the ball cross field to Robert Maclean. Robert ran on the outside of four Whinney Banks players and shot home to score comfortably. Following this Brompton made an enforced change substituting the injured Daniel Macfarlane with David Foster moving into mid-field and Robert Maclean moving into defence with the ever-solid David Holmes. Half-time saw Brompton leading 1-0.

The second half began with the blustery wind to Whinney Banks' advantage. In an early attack Brompton's Mark Watkinson saw his shot well cleared by the Winney Banks' defence. The ball was taken on by Sam Macnamara who hit a tremendous long range effort which just skimmed over the Brompton crossbar. This was Whinney Banks' best shot of the match. Early in this half Jack Cullen replaced David Foster in midfield and shortly after this Brompton's dominance was underlined by goalkeeper, Lee Taylor, having to make his first save of the game. The Brompton defence continued to play the ball well from their half and a particularly skilful run down the right flank by Robert Maclean resulted in yet another Brompton corner. From this corner a goalmouth melee ensued with the ball returning twice into the Whinney Banks' box before being slotted into the bottom left hand corner of the net by Thomas Armstrong. Full-time score was Brompton A 2, Whinney Banks B 0.

A strong wind went with play for Brompton Under-14s at Whitby in the first half and made the game difficult for both sides but Chris Sadd opened the scoring for Brompton. Brompton kept up the pressure and went two-up just before half time with a goal from James Robson. The second half demanded some tough defending from Brompton, playing against the wind and Whitby pulled one back in a goal mouth scramble. Brompton returned to the attack straight away with a well taken goal by Chris Hope. The game finished at 3-1 to Brompton.

Coxhoe Juniors

The Under-15s put in their best performance of the season as they strolled to a tremendous 12-0 victory on Sunday.

Managed Bobby Orton, who in the days prior to the match had contemplated resigning because of some of his players' attitudes, switched to a 3-5-2 formation for the match away to Newbottle and it paid dividends as Coxhoe marched into a comfortable 5-0 lead at half-time.

A pre-match teamtalk by Orton's assistants Andy Short and Keith Roberts clearly did the trick as Coxhoe dominated, meaning goalkeeper Tom Orton enjoyed a quiet game for the first time in weeks.

Scorers were John Dodd who hit the back of the net four times, Michael Owens felt the benefit of a hard training session the day before by grabbing a hat-trick, Daniel Jones bagged a brace, Nathan Ward got one while captain Liam Short had another great. The captain led by example and scored two goals.

Everyone in the team played well, but Daniel Purvis and Ben Raine came in for particular praise from manager Orton.

The change of tactics meant Purvis had to settle for a place on the bench but the youngster maintained a good attitude and after coming on as a substitute at half-time he played exceptionally well.

Darlington Allstars

The Under-16s were hosts to Seaton Carew for this weekend's league match and played in poor conditions. With the wind on their side, the Alllstars created many chances and Stuart Leigh, scored a 25 yard stunner into the top corner of the net taking the Allstars into 1-0 lead. Although the Allstars continued to pile on the pressure, they failed to convert into goals. In the second half against the wind, Seaton Carew scored two quick goals taking them into the lead. The Allstars could not play their normal long high balls and altered their tactics to provide some good touch football and inch perfect passing. Stuart scored his second and the equaliser with another well organised goal. Danny Pugh made it 3-2 and Jake Kirby scored his first goal in his first game for the Club to make it a 4-2 victory for the Allstars. Another good all round team performance. Scorers were man of the match Stuart Leigh (2), Jake Kirby and Danny Pugh.

The Under-10s played away to Stockton West End in a hard fought league match. Playing on a sticky pitch, the Allstars dug it out on a very windy day to claim all three points, winning 2-0. The scorer was Bradley Simpson was named man of the match.

The Under-13 Colts played away to Billingham Synthonia in the league. Allstars were unlucky to concede the first couple of goals, and in the end, it just wasn't Allstars' day. The final score was 8-2 to Billingham. The scorers were man of the match Lewis Oliver and Isam Mohammed.

Darlington RA

The RA completed a season treble beating local rivals Albion 3-0 at Brinkburn Road. The RA started slowly against a team they had beat twice already this season and were under pressure from the first minute but some strong defending and aggressive tackling kept the Albion at bay.

Once the RA settled and started to pass and move the ball around the Albion were on the back foot, several chances were missed before Bradley Woods scored his first of the season with a right foot shot from 20 yards. As the game progressed the Albion were under constant pressure and restricted to breakaways. Bradley Woods then finished of a fine move this time with left foot from the edge of the box, proving what a lucky two-footed player he really is.

Shortly after the break Tom Watson scored the RA's third which finished off all thoughts the Albion had of a fightback. Man of the match was defender Adam Williams.

Darlington Mount Pleasant Rangers

The Under-13s, sponsored by King, Hope & Co, played at home in a friendly against Darlington 21st All Stars. Rangers played some nice passing football throughout the game and dominated in periods and pressured All Stars but went on to lose 3-1 with Tom Turnbull scoring and Mick Able man of the match.

The Under-12s, sponsored by Magnet Ltd, played away in the league against Teesside Athletic. Rangers struggled to keep their shape from the off and Athletic capitalised on this. Rangers rallied in the second period but it wasn't enough as Teesside Athletic won 3-2. Rangers scorers were Liam 'Scholesy' Serginson and Joe Clare with Charlie Watson man of the match.

The Under-11s, sponsored by Direct Glass & Door Panels (Darlington), played at home in the league against Thirsk Falcons. This was a close contest from the kick off with both teams battling for the points. The game ended in a 2-2 draw with David Woodward and Tom Kelly scoring and Ashleigh Leighton man of the match.

The Under-10s, sponsored by MKM (Darlington), played away in the league against Seaton Carew. Rangers started strongly and wanted the three points, the pressure paid off with a 3-0 win. Rangers scorers were Stephen Richardson, Danny Longstaff and Sean Allen. Stephen Richardson was man of the match.

The Under-9s, sponsored by Mill VW (Faverdale), played at home against Leven FC. Rangers dominated most of the game but failed to hit the net with Leven winning 2-0. Rangers man of the match was Karl Hastie.

A friendly that followed saw Rangers win convincingly 4-1. Rangers scorers were Karl Hastie, Bradley Richmond, Euen Legg and Jake Karl.

The Under-8s, sponsored by Dutton Forshaw ( Stockton), played at home against Hartlepool St Francis 2000. This game saw Rangers playing some nice passing football and the game ended in a 2-2 draw. Rangers man of the match was Danial Mac Intyre.

Bishop Auckland Barrington Wanderers

Barrington Wanderers played at home against Blackfyne FC and were well beaten 3-0. This was the match between the current top two teams in the league and unfortunately the home side, on the day, did not deserve to win.

It was a game played in difficult weather conditions with both the wind and the rain, which made it difficult for Barrington to play their normal passing football. Andrew Snedddon was once again named man of the match for the way in which he defended against the league's top goal scorer.

Bishop Auckland College

Sunday saw the College away to Sunderland Spartans and on a cold and sometimes windy afternoon Bishop came away with the three points.

The first two goals came from breakaways with Anthony Ross getting both, next came Mathew Dixon after a great cross from Paul Walker, Anthony Ebdon bagged the fourth, Anthony Bowes hit the fifth. A stunning free-kick from Ebdon which the keeper couldn't hold on to so Derek Wade scored the rebound.

In the second half Adam Barrett scored the team's seventh goal.

Sunderland's heads never dropped and they were rewarded by scoring three in reply.