Darlington - TWO goals in the last 20 minutes prevented Darlington from finishing their home campaign with a win as they were held to a 3-3 draw with Newcastle.

The Quakers, already relegated from the Northern Combination, looked set for a deserved consolation victory, but were unable to hold on in the closing stages.

Darlington got off to a dream start in the fourth minute as a superb counter-attack involving captain for the night, Ellie Maggs and Kim Hayes set up Louise Leach to drill home a low cross-shot into the net.

Hayes then went close to extending the advantage, but Darlington were punished for allowing Newcastle too much possession as the Tynesiders equalised.

The Quakers retook the lead when Hayes' cross was slid in to the goal by Liz Lawrence.

Things got even better for the Quakers five minutes later as Hayes took advantage of a misunderstanding in the Newcastle defence to fire into an empty net.

The second half was all one-way traffic as Newcastle sought to get back into contention.

Centre-backs Hayley Burton and Tina Brown were both on fine form as they nullified the Newcastle attacks, while the lively Leach was always a threat for the Quakers.

Darlington looked to have weathered the storm, but a superb long range effort in the 70th minute gave Newcastle hope. then the loss of midfielder Ali White did not help the Quakers' cause, but they still looked odds on to hold out for the three points.

However, a scrappy effort in the dying moments ensured the Quakers had to be content with a share of the spoils.

Durham Johnston School

The girls football season ended on a high when the Under-16s won the County Cup, defeating Monkwearmouth Sunderland 2-1.

Goals from Laura Hodgkiss and Leann Clark secured the victory and although Monkwearmouth played well, Durham did miss several good chances to win by a greater margin.

Last season the Under-16s shared the County Cup with Hartlepool English Martyrs.

The previous week the Under-14s defeated Jarrow Springfield 3-2 in their County Cup final.

In the first half they played some good football, but after leading 3-1 they tired on a very big Hebburn pitch and for the last ten minutes were pinned in their own half.

However, good defending allowed Jarrow to grab one further goal.

Scorers were Laura Rae and Clark (2). The County Under-14 Cup has been won by the school each year since it started in 1998.

Coupled with these wins, the Under-12s had already won the County six-a-side Cup last September and are North-East champions.