Lyons on cloud nine in title challenge

HETTON Lyons CC overwhelmed long-time challengers Brandon Sports Club 9-1 to inch closer to the Premier Division title.Lee Blades gave Brandon the lead after an even start, but Hetton levelled and notched twice for a 3-1 interval lead before cutting loose in the second half.Conor Winter, Robbie Bird and Gavin Barton all plundered doubles, while Craig Price, Denver Morris and substitute goalkeeper Rhys Jobling also scored, Jobling coming on as outfield player to net for the second week in a row.Lee Chapman starred for Lyons, with David Fort best for the hosts.Six points from their final four games will guarantee another title for Lyons.Only Newton Aycliffe WMC can deny Lyons, and they face a mammoth task despite winning 2-0 at second-top Houghton Comrades, with goals from Kieran Megran and Jordan Lavery. Matt Stephenson shone in vain for Comrades.Sherburn Village WMC and Sedgefield St Edmund’s served up a close-fought 0-0 draw, with keeper Michael Brown starring for the visitors.Jordan Stannard and Jonathan Colling netted as bottom club Coxhoe WMC earned only their second point of the season, in a 2-2 draw at Pelton RAOB in which keeper Tom Orton starred.In midweek, Pelton RAOB won 2-0 at Newton Aycliffe WMC, who then won 3-1 at Sherburn Village.Ushaw Moor Cricket Club produced a sensational last-game win over champions Chilton WMC to give themselves hope of survival in Division One.Chilton, try as they might, could not find a breakthrough and a late goalkeeping error let in sub Chris Coates to secure a 1-0 win,That moved the cricketers up to third-bottom, three points clear of Houghton Chilton Lodge, who had two games to play and a better goal difference.Scott Davison starred for Ushaw Moor, David Harrison for Chilton.Houghton Chilton Lodge succumbed 5-3 to Sacriston Cricket Club, with Adam Hinde, Ross Monaghan and Andrew Macpherson responding to strikes from Chris Mordue (2), Sam Renwick (2) and Tom Winter.Whitehills sealed the second promotion spot with victory in the only game in Division Two. They go up again alongside Waldridge Park after edging a hard-fought 2-1 triumph at West Rainton, who had Graeme Brenkley sent off. Jamie Bowes notched for Rainton, whose defeat ended their own promotion ambitions.Pelton Crown maintained their championship push in Division Three with two wins to go top.First, they defeated battling Hetton New Inn 3-1.Both sides went close in an even first 45 minutes, with Pelton breaking the deadlock only for the visitors to level. On the restart, Crown notched twice more, with Liam Mitchell, man of the match Kris Lawton and John Morris securing their 3-1 win.That moved them two points off top spot, with five games in hand.In midweek, a hard-fought 2-1 victory at Esh Winning Cricket Club moved them into pole position, despite having Steven Ions sent off.John Morris and Mark Foster struck the vital goals, with Michael Fish replying.Framwellgate Moor WMC consolidated third place with a fine 3-1 success at home to leaders Washington Cricket Club.Promotion is out of reach, but Moor turned on the style, capped by strikes from Adam Kitching, star man James Smith and Lewis Coburn.Ferryhill Celtic were good 4-1 victors away to Bede Lodge SC, inspired by a well-taken Luke Thompson hat-trick.Shane Todd also weighed in, while John Kilgannon notched for Bede, whose star man was Andrew Bell.Belmont The Shoes moved off the bottom in style, defeating Kelloe Davy Lamp 4-2, with Kadam, Lumsden-Parnaby firing both replies.Ferryhill Community Hub outgunned Esh Winning Cricket Club 6-1, with Jonathan Hodgson firing the consolation.In midweek, Ferryhill Celtic walloped Framwellgate Moor WMC 7-1. Lewis Coburn struck for Moor.Durham County moved top of Division Four by winning their penultimate match, 4-1 at Chester-le-Street AFC.Already promoted, Joe Kerry’s double, backed by Stanley Ogunsuyi and sub Chris Brown, steered County home, with keeper Craig Oliver the hosts’ star performer. Shaun Mayell hit Chester’s consolation.Fencehouses went down 4-1 at fourth-placed Lumley Snooker Club.Fencehouses took an early lead, with Grant Craig scoring, but poor marking at a set piece led to Lumley levelling with a deflected strike right on half-time.It remained tight in the second half, with Fencehouses appealing in vain for two penalties, which they described as “nailed on”. Ben Haddock’s brace, added to by Darren Finlay and Dean Lawrence, guided Lumley home.Washington Jays and Quarrington Hill WMC fought out a tight goalless draw.Jays had an effort cleared off the line, while the visitors missed a penalty. Jays were denied a last-gasp winner by a good save from Carl Morris. Carl Lewiston stood out for Quarrington Hill.In midweek, Fencehouses beat Washington Jays 1-0, with Grant Craig scoring and Scott Hutchinson man of the match.

 On a warm spring evening in front of a good crowd Sacriston Cricket Club Fc put in one of the performances of the season. Pelton Roab fc had a pretty strong squad out and Sacriston had up 7 player’s unavailable which made this victory all the more noteworthy.

Sacriston were up for the game from the very start and competed with Pelton all over the pitch. After some good early pressure Sacriston had a good chance on 15 minutes when Gavin McCormack got in behind the Pelton defence and fired a shot against the post.

Sacriston were on the front foot for most of the first half and had many set pieces in and around the box with a few shots on the Pelton goal.

Pelton started to come into the game towards the end of the first half and almost scored when a cross which had only been partially cleared fell to a Pelton player in the box and his shot looked goal bound all the way but Sean Gregory bravely put his head in the way to divert the effort over the bar. In Craig Mickle Pelton had the outstanding player on the field he was fantastic on the night and his play was keeping Pelton in the contest. At times it was taking 3 players to get the ball of him and in the end we fouled him to stop his progress several times. Jacob Horner for Sacriston was causing similar problems with his dribbling ability from midfield and he was brought down several times when in within sight of the Pelton box.The start of the 2^nd half was a tight affair and Sacriston made a change on 57 minutes with Craig Coates replacing Jacob Horner and the change paid off immediately. A free kick was clipped into the Pelton box which was headed out of the area and landed in the middle of the field between 6 players but it was Anthony Ward who wanted it the most and his header got the ball back towards the Pelton area where John Harrison flicked his header on to Coates at the back post who positioned himself perfectly to head home from 4 yards out to give Sacriston the lead.

Pelton came back strong and Mickle’s play forced the Sacriston captain O’Brien to be yellow carded for persistent fouling. James Thornton came into the game on 67 minutes replacing Ward who took a 10 minute breather before finishing the game later on.Sacriston went 2-0 up on 73 minutes when Boyd pounced on hesitation in the Pelton defence and his cut back found Harrison on the edge of the 6 yard box and he finished well into the bottom right hand corner.This gave Sacriston a much needed cushion going into the final stages of the game and with 15 minutes or so to go I decided to substitute O’Brien because he was too close to receiving a red card for Horner with Sean Gregory moving back into defence to mark Mickle which he did brilliantly.Ward came back on to replace Harrison for the last 10 minutes who had led the line superbly and he had given the team a much needed aerial and physical presence against the robust Pelton defence.Although Sacriston had to defend a lot in the final moments particularly from corners we didn’t really look like conceding and at times we had several of our players literally throwing their bodies in the way of any potential shots towards our goal which pleased me immensely.Craig Coates manipulated the ball superbly towards the end of the match and showed great game management to help run down the clock. His experience and quality in the end proved crucial and he has been a superb influence on the team whenever he has played.

In the 93^rd minute Pelton got 1 goal back when for the first time in the match we didn’t pick up a runner from a corner and Gyan got across the front post to divert his header into the net from 7 yards out. The final whistle blew shortly afterwards as Sacriston celebrated their first victory over Pelton for 3 years.

Full credit to all of my players who to a man stood up to the test, we carried no passengers during the match and every player at numerous stages when called upon did their jobs magnificently. There were several candidates for man of the match but Michael Quinn just got my vote for his excellent display at centre half he was magnificent and never lost a challenge all night and he defended with great skill and his positioning and the timing of his tackles were perfect. Stuart Fenton also had an outstanding game at right wing back with Collinson slotting back into his old position at sweeper with ease. McCormack & Ward’s work rate was something to behold never giving any Pelton player a second longer on the ball than necessary and this was the key to our victory.

Sean Gregory was awesome in the match and his tenacious play in midfield and then in defence typified the team’s spirit on the night. Bryan Potts has come in for some criticism in recent games but his performance tonight was superb. This was a nice way to finish our home league campaign. We now have 3 games left in the league starting with Coxhoe WMC on Sunday