The Northern Echo Darlington Sunday Invitation League

Spraire RA defeated second placed Nestfield Club 3-0 in the game between the two sides, and that allowed Coundon to move into second place thanks to their 3-2 victory over The Northern Echo. However, Coundon were made to fight all the way for the three points, as the Echo took the lead early on thanks to a well-taken Gary Pallister goal. Coundon pulled level before half time though, thanks to a goal from Steven Butler. Coundon pulled away from their opponents as the in-form Darren Wilson bagged a brace to make the score 3-1, although Paul Jackson notched a late strike to give the Echo hope, it was too late.

Speedwell also moved above Nestfield after they came from three goals down to beat Team Scania 8-6. Neil Topping and Anth Gavriel both notched a brace for Speedwell, whilst Carl Bozeate, John Banks, Paul Tunstall, Shaun Collings and Darren Winter hit their other goals. Mark Finn and Martin Smith hit two each for Scania, whilst Michael Carter and Lee Hammond struck once each to complete the scoring. East End WMC continued their steady rise as they leapfrogged the Brinkburn thanks to a 3-0 victory. However, it took a workman like performance from the Clubmen to gain all three points. A left foot thunderbolt from Chris Scott opened the scoring in the first half, before a fine piece of trickery in the box allowed Neil Godfrey to make the score 2-0. Neil Jackson completed the scoring with a late tap-in, but the Brinkburn never dropped their work-rate, to make this an impressive hard-fought victory for the Eastenders.

Elsewhere in Division One, goals from Mark Foster (3), Wayne Anderson (3), Aaron Robson (2) and Andrew Turner saw Newton Aycliffe Sports Club move up to sixth position as they beat rock-bottom Green Dragon 9-0, whilst Hoppers Transport moved above fellow strugglers Springfield with a 5-3 win.

In Division Three, AFC Orange maintained their fine run of results with a 12-1 victory over Newton Cap that sees them stay at the top of the league.

Stu Cottam and Steven Sturman top-scored for Orange with three goals apiece, whilst Chris Wardell (2), Lee Day, Steven Walton, Chris Park and Steven Charlton all notched. Sean Bell scored a

consolation.

Canney Hill kept up the pressure as they also picked up all three points on Sunday, but they were made to fight all the way by an in-form Nestfield Seconds side.

Canney Hill were forced to show their mettle, and they dug deep to find the goals to come out on top as the game finished 5-4.

Michael Samuels bagged a brace, whilst Tom Hibbits, John Nunn and Lee Douthwaite also notched.

Kemp, Noddings, Weston and Hubble (2) hit the target for a Nestfield side who were unable to capitalise when Canney Hill were reduced to ten-men following the dismissal of their goalkeeper after only 20 minutes.

Yates's Wine Lodge remain in third after they defeated Faverdale 6-3. Yates's were thankful to David Aiken's hat-trick, Chris Chadwick (2) and Andy Salisbury who was fortunate to see the Faverdale keeper fumble his very weak penalty.

Royal British Legion stretched the gap between the top four and the rest of the league, as they defeated Pizza Perfekt 4-2. The league's top scorer, Michael Meredith, led the way for the Legion as he put them 1-0 up, but the Pizzaboyz player-manager Mark Wardell equalised via a goalmouth scramble. Wardell turned the game on its head with a fine bit of skill to volleye home from 20 yards to give Perfekt a 2-1 lead. Meredith wasn't to be outdone, however, and he brought the score level just before the break before he bagged a brace in the second half. The Falchion got back to winning ways as they defeated Hogans. Falchion took a lead late in the first half as Michael Bates corner deflected into the net off a Hogans

defender. However, Ian Taylor notched a goal after a comedy of errors in The Falchion box to make the score 1-1 at half time. Another Bates corner led to The Falchion regaining their lead thanks to a header from Darren Hart. Hogans came straight back again though, and a fine through ball allowed Chris Piper all the time in the world to level the score up, as the sides seemed destined to share all three points. However, in one last cruel twist of fate, Richard Young's cross was headed into his own net by Hogans player-manager Martin Wilson, as The Falchion won the game 3-2.

In the only remaining game in Division Three, Biglins News came from behind to defeat AXA Insurance 3-1. Alan Percival gave AXA the lead as he charged down a clearance from his brother in the Biglins goal to leave himself with a simple tap-in to an empty net. However, that was to be the end of any brotherly assistance, as Biglins survived a penalty scare to go into the break 1-1 thanks to a powerful header from Chris Hickman. Hickman then gave Biglins the lead as his cross-come-shot squirmed under the body of AXA 'keeper Greg Osborne, and Osborne and AXA's misery was then completed, as Osborne's miscued goal-kick fell to Moore, who promptly drilled the ball past him from 25 yards to make the final score 3-1 to Biglins News.

In Division Two, the game between the top two sides, Hurworth Albion and Bishop Auckland Cricket Club was postponed, and that gave both Shuttle & Loom and Jack Horners a chance to catch-up - a chance both sides accepted. The Shuttle ran riot in their game against The Greyhound, as they ran out 14-0 victors, whilst Jack Horners defeated struggling Northern Spirit 6-0 thanks to goals from Leon Russell (3), Shaun Donahue (2) and James Cosgrove.

Elsewhere in the division, Allstars beat bottom-side Smith & Allan 18-1, whilst Bishop Auckland Derby overtook Copper Beech DCS, as they defeated them 5-2.

A poor first half performance from DCS saw them trail 3-0 at half time, but a Kevin Myers strike soon after the break gave them hope of a comeback. However, that hope was to be short lived, as The Derby soon moved 4-1 ahead.

Alan Curry once more brought DCS within touching distance, but it wasn't to be, as The Derby completed their victory with a late goal. Wayne King and Kevin McCormick both bagged a brace for The Derby whilst Darren Dye also got on the score-sheet as they picked up a result that should banish their relegation worries for the time being.

Division One

P W D L F A Pts GD

Spraire RA 11 8 2 1 51 15 26 36

*Coundon Foresters 11 8 1 2 61 12 22 49

Speedwell 13 7 1 5 59 34 22 25

Nestfield Club 13 7 1 5 40 37 22 3

East End WMC 10 7 0 3 47 22 21 25

Newton Aycliffe SC 10 6 3 1 36 13 21 23

Brinkburn 13 6 2 5 48 33 20 15

The Northern Echo 12 5 1 6 35 47 16 -12

Team Scania 12 4 0 8 48 75 12 -27

Hoppers Transport 12 2 2 8 24 66 8 -42

*Springfield 13 3 1 9 31 58 7 -27

Green Dragon 12 1 0 11 22 90 3 -68

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 10 9 0 1 62 10 27 52

Jack Horners 13 9 0 4 58 16 27 42

All Stars 11 7 1 3 76 19 22 57

BA The Derby 13 5 2 6 66 47 17 19

Copper Beech Dcs 13 5 0 8 35 40 15 -5

Sadberge 11 4 0 7 42 44 12 -2

Greyhound 12 3 0 9 28 60 9 -32

Northern Spirit 13 2 1 10 26 63 7 -37

Smith & Allan 13 0 0 13 9 209 0 -200

Division Three

P W D L F A Pts GD

AFC Orange 13 12 0 1 59 10 36 49

Canney Hill Athletic 13 10 1 2 55 21 31 34

Yates Wine Lodge 14 10 0 4 52 34 30 18

Royal British Legion 13 9 2 2 52 26 29 26

Pizza Perfekt 14 7 1 6 53 37 22 16

Biglins News 13 6 2 5 42 28 20 14

Nestfield Seconds 14 5 4 5 38 38 19 0

Faverdale 14 4 2 8 41 52 14 -11

The Falchion 14 4 1 9 29 46 13 -17

Newton Cap 12 4 1 7 31 65 13 -34

AXA Insurance 14 3 0 11 27 50 9 -23

Hogans 14 0 0 14 16 89 0 -73

*Denotes three points deducted

Bowman Anderson Accountants Spennymoor Sunday League

HORNDALE clinched their first win of the season last week when they reached the quarter-finals of the B&A Trophy.

Aycliffe outfit Horndale - currently bottom of the First Division with just two points in the bag - had been awarded a bye to the second round of the competition.

And four goals by striker Wayne Pratt helped them record a 4-1 win over Laceys to reach the next stage.

"It was a big result for us," said manager Michael Grimes. "Our confidence has been low recently but we took our chances in this game and the confidence started to flow - then we started playing the football we know we can.

"I think it was a fair result because we had a lot of chances and should really have scored a few more goals when they tried to push on. We have to try and take this form into the league now if we are to avoid relegation." Adam Henderson scored Laceys' only goal.

Fellow Aycliffe side Europa joined Horndale in the quarters after they beat Brandon 2-1. David Hanson and Kevin Wilkinson scored for Europa and Lee Nyland scored for Brandon.

In the First Division last week, Newton Aycliffe eventually bagged three points after a rip-snorting nine-goal thriller with Eldon Lane.

Darren Muncaster gave Aycliffe the lead, then Craig Murray put them 2-0 up. But Eldon launched a revival - Michael Paterson pulled one back, then Richard Pallister grabbed the equaliser before half-time.

John Robert Foster put Eldon 3-2 up after the break, but striker Paul Stevens drew Aycliffe level. Then Muncaster grabbed his second for Aycliffe to make it 4-3 before John Neilson scored the third equaliser of the game...but the game wasn't over.

Stevens netted his second of the match in the final minute with a dubious goal that looked to be off-side.

"It was definitely off-side," said Eldon manager Neil Iley. "I felt we should have got something out of the game. We pushed them hard and they showed some weakness at the back, which showed by the number of goals we scored. I think a draw would have been a fair result."

Aycliffe striker Paul Buxton admitted Eldon deserved to get more from the game. "I think they probably should have won a point," he said. "It was a great game which was really end-to-end, but our winning goal looked to be off-side."

Eldon's 16-year-old midfielder Ben Copper impressed once again with the man-of-the-match award.

Aycliffe will have gone back to the top of the league with their win - but New Masons maintained their top spot with a slender 1-0 win over the Royal George, Mark Greenwood netting the winner.

In the Second Division, Binchester Social Club returned to winning ways with a comfortable 4-1 win over Darlington side Boot & Shoe.

Binchester's man-of-the-match Darren Spark scored twice, while Jeff Morrow and Terry Little also scored before Jason Benkinsopp pulled one back for Boot & Shoe. The Shoe's man-of-the-match went to 'keeper David Dean, who made a number of excellent saves.

Meanwhile, top-of-the-table Spennymoor Thorns appear to have recovered from their blip three weeks ago - they beat the Green Tree 10-2 thanks to goals by Mark Russell (4), Andrew Richardson (2), Michael Oliver (2), Steven Smith and Stephen Richardson.

Masons United moved up to seventh with a 6-1 win at Pit Laddie thanks to a hat-trick by David Maughn and one a-piece from Neil Quigley, Dean Merchant and Christopher Strong. Andy Young grabbed Laddie's consolation.

North Briton's miserable run continued with a 3-2 defeat at home to Victoria.

Mark Nelson scored two for the Vic and Adam Cunningham grabbed one, while Gary Toal and David Patrick scored for the Brit.

l If you'd like to include your games in reports, e-mail your match details to: martinwalker50 Royal George 0, New Masons 1; Newton Aycliffe 5, Eldon Lane 4.

Division Two: Green Tree 1, Thorns 10; Brawns Den 10, Binchester Hotel 0; Postchaise 6, Two Blues 1; Pit Laddie 1, Masons United 6; North Briton 2, Victoria 3; The Loves 2, Shildon Athletic 1; Binchester Social 4, Boot & Shoe 1.

B&A Trophy round two: Brandon 1, Europa 2; Horndale 4, Laceys 1.

Division One

P W D L F A Pts

New Masons 13 10 1 2 45 26 31

Newton Aycliffe 11 9 1 1 51 21 28

Old Shildon 12 8 1 3 50 19 25

Huntsman 11 7 3 1 41 24 24

The Grand 11 7 1 3 31 22 22

Royal George 13 6 1 6 30 33 19

Europa 9 5 1 3 26 23 16

Eldon Lane 12 4 3 5 32 36 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 Th. 15 14 0 1 93 20 42

Broompark Loves 11 12 1 1 72 13 37

Postchaise 16 10 1 5 55 42 31

Binchester Soc. C. 12 9 1 2 34 21 28

*Black Horse 12 9 1 2 53 25 25

Brawns Den 13 8 0 5 49 27 24

Masons United 14 6 3 5 35 32 21

Boot & Shoe 15 6 1 8 40 57 19

Green Tree 14 6 0 8 33 48 18

North Briton 16 5 0 11 42 49 15

Victoria 15 4 3 8 25 58 15

Locomotion 12 4 1 7 36 38 13

Shildon Athletic 14 4 1 9 32 50 13

Two Blues 13 3 1 9 30 58 10

Pit Laddie 14 2 0 12 27 60 9

Binchester Hotel 15 2 0 13 22 80 6

*Denotes three points deducted