Only eight of the 20 scheduled games beat the bad weather this week, but Newton Aycliffe Sports Club took full advantage of the situation as they closed the gap between themselves and second placed East End WMC to only two points.

The Sports Club have only dropped five points all season, and their dominance was obvious as they took a 5-0 lead into the break against Hurworth Albion. The Albion did manage to tighten their defence in the second half, but they still couldn't stop the Sports Club adding a further two goals. James Miller and Mark Foster top scored for the Sports Club with a brace apiece whilst Craig Barrigan, Ray Stanger and Carl Black also notched for the home side.

In the only remaining first division game Spraire RA took a big step toward escaping from the relegation zone as they picked up a 9-2 away victory against Bishop Auckland Cricket Club. Martin Brown top-scored for Spraire with five goals, whilst Andrew Blenkhorn (2), Andy Weatherall and Anthony McMaster also notched for the hosts. Kevin Slater and Michael Dixon struck the Cricket Club's goals, but it was too little too late as Spraire's second league victory of the season now leaves them only two points behind Central Club with five games in hand.

Division Two also saw only two games completed, with league leaders All Stars one of those teams in action. The leaders once more picked up maximum points as well as they cruised to an 8-0 victory over struggling Sadberge.

Meanwhile, Yates Wine Lodge leapt two places in the league as they picked up an impressive 2-1 away victory over fifth place Bishop Auckland Derby. The bad news for the Derby is that the result now leaves them ten points behind the top three with only two games in hand.

Division Three saw many more games take place, and it was business as usual for Pepper Draughting Services as they picked up their 17th league victory in as many games with a 7-2 victory over Pizza Perfekt.

PDS took an early lead through a Gary Williamson penalty but the Pizzaboyz levelled matters up soon afterwards as leading scorer Liam Coleman slotted the ball past the on-rushing 'keeper. However, PDS simply stepped up a gear as they scored a further four first half goals before Daniel Brown notched for the Pizzaboyz just before the break to make the half time score 5-2.

The goal-rate slowed in the second half though as PDS only notched a further two strikes, but it was more than enough for them to extend their lead at the top of the table to 11 points. Lee Hammond top-scored for PDS with a hat-trick, whilst Mark Stephenson (2) and Dave Turnbull also found the net.

Second placed FR Aviation lost ground on the leaders as their game against Emcor was postponed, and to make matters worse Hope Inn moved to within a point of them as they beat fifth placed Middelton St George Cricket Club.

Following an exciting but goalless opening half hour, the Hope were set on their way to victory by Trenton Hewitt who notched the only goal of the first half.

Soon after the break the Hope took a 2-0 lead through Dave Hubble before John Sunter struck for the hosts to bring the score back to 2-1. The Hope were always going to be too strong for the Cricket Club though, and both Hewitt and Hubble added to their individual tallies as the visitors ran out 4-1 victors.

Elsewhere, a last minute penalty from Lee Stainsby gave Royal Oak a 4-3 victory over Smith & Allan. Carl Mansfield gave the Oak an early lead with a scrambled headed goal, and they then went on to create, and spurn, several gilt-edged chances. The hosts weren't so wasteful with their opportunities, however, and Gareth Hodgson notched a brace to put Smith & Allan into a shock lead. The Oak levelled just before half time through Matt Dunn, however, and Neil Jollie then put the Oak back in the driving seat with a goal just after the break. Smith & Allan soon got back on level terms as John McGrath was allowed a free header in the Oak six yard box but, despite being reduced to ten men, the Oak kept plugging away and were rewarded by Stainsby's spot kick.

In the remaining game Drinkfield United also collected all three points in their game against The Falchion. After a goalless first half Daniel Eeles broke the deadlock from the penalty spot to give Drinkfield a 1-0 lead.

However, The Falchion responded superbly to going a goal down, and only a combination of fine defending, good luck and some superb saves by Drinkfield 'keeper Paul Holliday kept the home side in the lead. However, they managed to weather the storm, and Carl Eeles then managed to double their advantage as he converted a fine cross from Carl Jenkinson. The Falchion continued to pile on the pressure, but the home side were determined to claim their first clean sheet of the season, and they managed to succeed as Holliday once more pulled off a string of fine saves to make the final score 2-0 to Drinkfield.

Leading scorers

Division One

League Cup Total

Lee Ellison Coundon Foresters 20 7 27

Gary Mitchell Nestfield Club 17 3 20

John Shotton N Aycliffe Sports Club 9 8 17

Chris Postle N Aycliffe Sports Club 5 7 12

Adie Weston Nestfield Club 8 3 11

Neil Jackson East End WMC 8 2 10

Tony Stafford Central Club 7 3 10

Chris Scott East End WMC 6 4 10

Chris Airey Shuttle & Loom 5 5 10

Adam Reid Coundon Foresters 8 1 9

Ray Stanger N Aycliffe Sports Club 2 6 8

Stuart Cottam Central Club 7 0 7

Darren Tate Hurworth Albion 6 1 7

Karl Black N Aycliffe Sports Club 6 1 7

Kevin Baines Shuttle & Loom 6 1 7

Simon Middlemiss Hurworth Albion 1 6 7

Kevin Slater B A Cricket Club 6 0 6

Steven Butler Coundon Foresters 6 0 6

Andrew Turner N Aycliffe Sports Club 3 3 6

Paul Stout N Aycliffe Sports Club 3 3 6

Craig Maddison Northern Echo 5 0 5

Curt Warburton Coundon Foresters 5 0 5

Darren Wilson Coundon Foresters 5 0 5

Mike Dutton Shuttle & Loom 4 1 5

Shaun Collins East End WMC 4 1 5

Stuart Curry Shuttle & Loom 4 1 5

Graham Bainbridge Northern Echo 3 2 5

Neil Tarrant East End WMC 3 2 5

Rob Mazur Coundon Foresters 3 2 5

Paul Hutchinson Shuttle & Loom 2 3 5

James Miller N Aycliffe Sports Club 1 4 5

* Division One scorers as of January 19

Division Two

League Cup Total

Darren Kokes All Stars 30 9 39

Danny Fleary Killinghall Arms 9 5 14

Dan Hanafin All Stars 13 0 13

Mike Smith Killinghall Arms 12 1 13

Trevor Cooke Royal British Legion 10 1 11

Darren Dye Bishop Auckland Derby 5 6 11

Chris Wardell AFC Orange 8 2 10

Alan Gowling Copper Beech DCS 8 1 9

Wayne King Bishop Auckland Derby 6 3 9

Paul Scott Jack Horners 7 1 8

Paul Spinks Yates Wine Lodge 6 2 8

Mark Finn AFC Orange 7 0 7

Aaron Lowrie Sadberge DL 3 4 7

Chris Chadwick Yates Wine Lodge 6 0 6

Andy Salisbury Yates Wine Lodge 6 0 6

Ryan Sandwick All Stars 5 1 6

Garry Donald Grey Horse 5 1 6

Michael Bland All Stars 5 0 5

Neil Mathias Killinghall Arms 5 0 5

Martin Allinson AFC Orange 4 1 5

Glenn Thompson Bishop Auckland Derby 4 1 5

Kevin McCormick Bishop Auckland Derby 4 1 5

Garry Preston Grey Horse 4 1 5

Andy Vernon Jack Horners 4 1 5

Paul Walker Killinghall Arms 4 1 5

David Pattinson Yates Wine Lodge 4 1 5

Paul Wilkinson Sadberge DL 3 2 5

* Division Two scorers as of January 19

Division Three

League Cup Total

Michael Carter Pepper D raughting Serv. 47 4 51

Mike Layton Falchion 30 0 30

Gary Williamson Pepper Draughting Serv. 23 4 27

Dave Turnbull Pepper Draughting Serv. 21 4 25

Trenton Hewitt Hope Inn 16 7 23

Steve Thompson FR Aviation 20 2 22

Lee Hammond Pepper Draughting Serv. 20 1 21

Liam Coleman Pizza Perfekt 20 1 21

Stuart Hardy Hope Inn/Killinghall Arms 13 8 21

Mike Weston Pizza Perfekt 17 3 20

Mark Stephenson Pepper Draughting Serv. 15 3 18

Dave Hubble Hope Inn 12 4 16

Paul Freary FR Aviation 15 0 15

Mark Evans Middleton St George 12 3 15

Steve Stephenson Hope Inn 8 7 15

Stuart Boughen Royal Oak 11 3 14

Alan Percival Axa Insurance 13 0 13

Aaron Radstock Drinkfield United 9 4 13

Carl Eeles Drinkfield United 9 4 13

Paul Cooper Haughton 11 1 12

John Sunter Middleton St George 11 0 11

Mark Brischuk Middleton St George 9 2 11

Daniel Eeles Drinkfield United 8 3 11

Graham Wedge Hope Inn 8 3 11

Paul Legg Haughton 8 2 10

Gareth Hodgson Smith & Allan 8 1 9

Karl Lockwood Haughton 7 2 9

Jamie Gardner AFC Aruba 6 3 9

Scott Mitchell Hope Inn 3 6 9

* Division Three scorers as of January 5