Marske United chairman John Hodgson has paid tribute to outgoing manager Charlie Bell.

Bell, along with assistant manager Steve Dowling, stunned the club by announcing that they were quitting after six years in joint charge at Mount Pleasant.

"The news came as a complete surprise to me ," said Hodgson.

"Charlie said after the game at Peterlee last week, when we lost 2-1, that he felt he wasn't getting as much out of the players as he should."

"He took us through the Wearside League and the Northern League Second Division, and last season we had an excellent run in the FA Vase.

"But he has always set himself high standards, and he felt that it was time to go."

Bell had given nine year service in all to the club, while his assistant, Dowling, was at the club for thirteen years. Hodgson then moved quickly to appoint Micky Hodgson as the new man in charge.

Hodgson was manager at Guisborough for almost a decade, and last season was in charge of Second Division Northallerton.

Billingham Synthonia have successfully appealed to the Durham FA over the five-week suspension imposed on midfielder Dean McGee for allegedly swearing in the recent game against Whitley Bay. McGee has had his suspension reduced to seven days.

Seaham Red Star manager Wilf Constantine is full of praise for veteran defender Dave Callaghan.

Callaghan has been around the Northern League for nearly three decades, and according to his manager, is still turning in top class performances.

"He's never caught out for pace, because of his experience," says Constantine.

Unfortunately, Callaghan has now sustained a broken finger, and Constantine said: "It must have something to do with the number five shirt - when Mark Nicholson broke his arm a fortnight ago, he was wearing the same shirt."

Meanwhile, Constantine isn't too pleased with the Northern League's decision to deduct three points from Seaham's total for fielding an unregistered player earlier in the season.

But any appeal is likely to fail, as many clubs have claimed genuine mistakes in the past, but their protests have fallen on deaf ears.

Whitley Bay manager Andy Gowens has told his players that they must keep the good results going.

Whitley go into Saturday's game at home to Durham City top of the Northern League First Division, with a five-point lead over Tow Law.

But Gowens has been around long enough to realise that there is still plenty of work to be done.

"If we finish above Bedlington, then we'll win the league," he said.

"We're still playing great football - I wish I was a few years younger!"

Brandon's players are attracting the scouts from higher league clubs to the Welfare Ground.

Brandon's good form, which has carried them to the fringe of title contention this season, has seen representatives from all the area's UniBond League clubs at their matches, while Conference club Morecambe have been to a couple of matches.

Washington Nissan manager Gavin Liddle admitted that he couldn't be angry with his players after their amazing 9-7 home defeat by Billingham Synthonia last Saturday in the FA Carlsberg Vase.

Not many clubs will have scored seven goals in a game and lost, but Liddle was proud of the way his players performed.

"They fought back really well twice in the game," he said.

"They gave me 100 per cent, and that's all I can ask for."

But spare a thought for Nissan strikers Adam Johnston and Gavin Cogden. Each of them scored a hat-trick, but still finished on the losing side.

Synners boss Stuart Coleby said: "It was a comedy of errors as far as we were concerned. At 6-3, we thought we 'd done the job, but we let them back into the game."

The surprising thing was of the 16 goal thriller, that not one of the goals was disputed. There was no suspicion of offside or fouls in the build up to any of the goals in open play, which made the banishment of a Synners spectator by referee Steve Sunley for allegedly calling his performance "rubbish" all the more baffling.

West Auckland must go to Harrogate again when the draw was made for the second round of the FA Carlsberg Vase earlier in the week.

West were knocked out of the FA Cup by Harrogate Town, and now they must travel to Harrogate Railway on November 10th.

The tie of the round as far as this area is concerned will be the Guisborough v Whitley Bay tie, both sides are going well in the ANL at the moment.

The draw for the second round of the FA Carlsberg Vase produced two all Northern League ties, while much fancied Bedlington must go to Eccleshill.

The draw as it affects North-East clubs: Guisborough v Whitley Bay, Tow Law v Congleton, Billingham Town v Curzon Ashton, Squires Gate v Billingham Synthonia, Peterlee v Consett, Eccleshill v Bedlington, Nantwich v Esh Winning, Thornaby v Prescot Cables or Blackpool Mechanics, Marske v Hallam, Durham City v Mossley, Harrogate RA v West Auckland. Games to be played on November.

Peterlee boss Eddie Freeman is delighted that Ben Hall walked into the dressing room and asked for a trial during the pre-season build up.

Hall had just come back from a year in the USA, and strolled into Peterlee's changing room before a friendly and asked Freeman for a game.

Freeman obliged, and he's pleased he did because Hall has now scored 17 goals this season, thanks to a hat-trick against Chester-le-Street in the Vase last Saturday.

"He's so sharp inside the box, and has got very good eye-to-ball control," he said. Freeman has a problem of a different sort, with the UniBond League clubs keeping an eye on several players.

Shildon manager Ray Gowan blamed a traffic delay for his side's FA Vase exit at Congleton last Saturday.

Shildon were held up on the M62 on their journey to Congleton in Cheshire, and only reached the ground fifteen minutes before kick-off.

In the Durham Challenge Cup, a missed penalty by Scott Nicholson was the closest Tow Law came to scoring against Hartlepool when they went down by a single goal.

Peterlee beat Darlington with a golden goal from Chris Creamer in a goalmouth scramble. Paul Campbell put the Football League side ahead, with Lee Fitzgerald equalising with a penalty near the end of the game.

Crook Town beat Consett 3-1 after going into a three goal lead through Trevor Ball, Martin Blythe and Paul Dawson. Colin McLeod replied for Consett.

Easington beat Kennek Ryhope CA 5-1, after going into a two goal lead through Lee Dixon and Dean Hannah inside the first four minutes. Vic Holt, Steve Salvin and Ian Matthews scored their other goals, with Anthony Holmes scoring a late consolation.

Brandon beat Washington 4-0, despite playing for most of the game with ten men after keeper Ben Cole was dismissed for handling outside his area. Anthony McStea put Brandon ahead from the edge of the box, with Andrew Cuthbertson adding the second after half-time. David Fort and McStea added further goals in the last fifteen minutes.

Willington also scored four, against Shotton. Lee Gray put them in front after 15 minutes, with Michael Boumsong adding the second. David Tate pulled one back for Shotton. But Chris Taylor scored twice in the second half for Willington. Billingham Town easily beat Washington Nissan 5-1, with Steve Osborne and Paul Rowntree both scoring two apiece. Ben Ryan scored two for South Shields in their 3-1 home win over Shildon, Shields led 3-0 at one stage. Chester-le-Street thrashed Eppleton 7-1