Nissan finally clinched the championship and the added prize of entry into the Second Division of the Albany Northern League when they gained

the one point needed from their final match of the season at Simonside SC on Wednesday night.

They romped to an 8-0 victory and despite giving one of their best performances of the season in winning 3-0 at Stokesley SC, North Shields had to settle for the runners-up position.

The Robins can take some comfort from the fact that they won both the league's Monkwearmouth Charity Cup and the Brother Northumberland Senior Benevolent Bowl but the title has again eluded them.

North Shields have invested considerably in their facilities in recent months to meet Northern League criteria. The ground has been totally enclosed, a seated

stand and floodlights have been provided and other improvements carried out.

"We will just have to give it another go next season. It was disappointing when we heard that Nissan had won but it was what we expected," said Robins secretary David Thompson.

Wolviston won the league's other domestic competition, the Sunderland Shipowners' Cup and at the other end of the table, Whitburn are wooden-spoonists.

They completed their season losing 3-1 to Simonside SC and have announced their resignation from the league.

In other midweek matches, Stokesley SC were much more successful in the first of two games when they hit Jarrow with a 9-2 defeat, the goals coming

from Stephen Tait and Wayne Allen, who both scored hat-tricks, Craig Johnson (2) and Mathew Homan.

Goals from Aaron Scott and Greg Chapman earned Stanley United the points at home to Cleadon SC who also lost 3-2 to Windscale. Kevin Westall and Chris Stephenson scored for Cleadon.

New Marske ended 5-1 losers to Harton and Westoe for whom Michael Meek (3), Jonathan Wightman and Andy Blower found the net with Ben Walker New Marske's only marskman.

P W D L F A Pts

Nissan 37 30 3 4 112 29 93

North Shields 34 25 6 3 122 22 81

Wolviston 37 23 6 8 103 58 75

Harton and Westoe 36 22 4 10 112 57 70

*Boldon 37 23 4 10 102 62 70

Windscale 33 21 5 7 88 38 68

*Redcar Town 36 21 7 8 99 53 67

New Marske 36 18 7 11 77 52 61

Stokesley 36 18 6 12 107 62 60

Whitehaven 36 18 5 13 78 69 59

Ferryhill Athletic 36 15 4 17 88 84 49

Thornaby-on-Tees 36 13 6 17 81 96 45

Stanley United 35 10 12 13 68 70 42

**Birtley Town 36 14 4 18 74 96 40

*Annfield Plain 37 12 3 22 83 96 36

Cleadon 36 7 4 25 47 108 25

Ryhope 38 6 5 27 46 102 23

Jarrow 35 5 6 24 47 101 21

Simonside 34 6 2 26 29 170 20

Whitburn 37 2 1 34 37 175 7

**denotes six points deducted

*denotes three points deducted