Sunday 6th December 2015

Finch-perfect New Inn stun table-toppers Houghton

Hetton New Inn stunned leaders Houghton with a thrilling 4-3 derby triumph in Division Three.

The unexpected victory steered Hetton up two places to eighth and eased their relegation fears.Two-goal star man Keith Finch, Jordan Hay and Jordan Knox guided Hetton home, capping a fine team performance.

For Houghton, a fourth defeat means they are only six points clear, having played more games than all of their rivals, six more than second-top Durham County.

Hetton took the lead in just the third minute, with a penalty which Houghton claimed was very soft. They were awarded a second penalty, as players jostled for position, in the 44th minute to double the lead, and still had time to add a third from close range before the interval.In the second half, Houghton fought back with a goal apiece from James Carman and James Wood.As Houghton pushed for the equaliser, New Inn added a decisive fourth goal on the counter-attack.Houghton’s Andrew Brooke pulled a third back in the 90th minute but ran out of time to find an equaliser.

The other Third Division derby lived up to expectations as Burnside WMC locked horns with lowly Dubmire WMC.The game started at a very fast pace, with the away side taking the lead with a low drive from Elliot Cutts finding the net from outside the box. Burnside doubled their lead after half an hour, with Max Stoker coolly finishing from close range.

Several more chances followed before Craig Ellison curled one in from outside the box, leaving the keeper with no chance, to make it a deserved 3-0 interval lead.

Some acrobatic saves from both keepers kept the score down, but Dubmire grabbed one back to cut the deficit.Keeper Sean Robinson starred for Burnside.

Durham County maintained their 100% league record with a seventh win out of seven.

They thumped Lumley Snooker Club 4-0, with Bradley Hird stealing the show thanks to a clinical hat-trick. Alex Hird also notched, with Ben Reed man of the match.

Houghton Wild Boar All-Stars finished 5-2 winners at home to Ferryhill Dynamos to climb into sixth place in Division One.

Nick Thompson scrambled home the only goal of the first half to give Boar the lead, perhaps against the run of play, but Ferryhill’s Chris Devine equalised 10 minutes into the second half before Rob Thompson and a super header from Nick Thompson made it 3-1 to the hosts

Devine reduced the deficit to 3-2 and a couple of brilliant saves from keeper Sean Simpson prevented Ferryhill adding to their tally.

The pivotal moment of the match came on 75 minutes, when the visitors had Nigel Milner sent off after reacting to Boar being awarded a penalty for a foul on Karl Anderson.

Nick Thompson, in search of his hat-trick, stepped up to take the kick but merely sidefooted the ball into the arms of keeper John Cavanagh.

Ferryhill’s 10 men struggled to keep out further Houghton attacks and Dean Clark and Dan Johnston both scored to seal the visitors’ fate.Sean Simpson starred in goal for Boar, with David Gibson best for the visitors.Whitehills produced a battling performance to secure a 1-0 victory at home to West Rainton to move joint top with Durham County Seniors, albeit having played four games more.Bradley Graham bagged the only goal midway through the first half. West Rainton proceeded to dominate the rest of the game, but a strong defensive display and some fantastic saves from keeper Stephen Turnbull denied the visitors.

Stephen Fisher shone for Whitehills.

Brandon Sports Club climbed to sixth place thanks to a close-fought 2-1 win over second-bottom Hilda Park.Hilda impressed throughout, but the outstanding goalkeeping of man of the match Robert Barron proved decisive in denying them any reward.

Hilda created the better early chances but failed to take any of them, and Brandon duly took the lead with a well-taken David Fort free-kick.

Slow to start the second half, Hilda came under intense Brandon pressure, but, on the break, Chris Watson crossed for Jak Gordon to slide home an equaliser.

Michael Fort, who led the line well, then pounced for Brandon’s winner. Daniel Foster shone for HildaThe big derby saw Sacriston WMC hold leaders Sacriston Cricket Club to a 1-1 draw, in a game of two halves.The cricketers made a great start, with Shaun Gregory firing the early opener from a brilliant Marc Bladen pass, but they could not build on their first-half dominance.Sacriston WMC had the majority of play in the second half but looked like missing out until star man David Wardle grabbed a merited leveller. Anthony Ward stood out for the cricketers.

High Handenhold Bird Inn moved up to fourth in Division Two thanks to a 3-1 win at Ferryhill Community Hub.Brett Maughan had Hub ahead, but Bird Inn stepped up their game and deservedly turned the tie around, thanks to Marc Wood’s brace and a Daniel Watkins strike.

In the only Fourth Division match, Dave Lucas grabbed a hat-trick in vain for table-toppers Lumley, who lost out 5-3 in a good end-to-end game at Birtley Coach & Horses.

Chester Garden Farm dominated from start to finish to run out 13-1 winners at home to Newton Hall Jovial Monk in the Stepy’s Coaches President’s Trophy.

Monk were under the cosh from the off, and, with no subs available, could not cope. Dan Johnson’s four-goal salvo was backed by hat-tricks from Tom Wray and Ryan Johnson, with Bailey Hunter, Liam Walsh and Michael Toon also on target.

Fourth Division newcomers Eppleton Cricket Club found hosts Bishop Middleham too strong in their D&P Trophies Knockout Trophy second round tie.

Bishop eased home 4-1, thanks to John Cook (2), Adam Partington and an own goal, after trailing to Liam Ord’s opener. Michael Ambler was the visitors’ top performer, with Steven Ferguson best for Bishop.

Sunday 29th November 2015

Carman drives Houghton to six-point lead at the top

Houghton extended their lead at the top of Division Three to six points, after rallying for a 4-1 triumph at Quarrington Hill WMC.

In a hard-fought game in very difficult conditions, Quarrington Hill took the lead in the 18th minute only for James Carman to equalise on the half hour, racing clear and firing a powerful shot inside the keeper’s near post.Houghton stormed in front with a Nathan Brewster penalty on the stroke of half-time, and they went on to dominate the second half, sealing the three points with Danny Grant’s header and a second from Carman.Andrew Brooke shone for Houghton.Chester-le-Street AFC were good 4-1 winners at bottom club High Shincliffe Avenue.Shincliffe made a good start, going ahead with a neat finish from 10 yards, after a long ball got through the visiting defence.But Chester took command after that and Elliot Rimington levelled, volleying home Andy Graham’s cross.Though Miller Fletcher missed a penalty, and Chester hit the woodwork twice, they finally went in front, when centre-back Scott picked up the ball from a short corner and fired home from the edge of the area.Rimington added a third before his good work set up sub Shaun Mayell, who curled home a brilliant 25-yarder to make it 4-1Sean Monaghan stood out for Chester.Durham County cruised to a 5-0 victory at second-top Sedgefield SC, keeping up their 100 per cent league record, with Joe Kerry’s brace backed by Alex Hird, star man Andrew Bartle and Jack Carr.Houghton Wild Boar All-Stars succumbed 3-1 at home to bright and breezy Coxhoe Red Lion in Division One.Coxhoe started strongly in dreadful conditions but wasted their first chance, then Boar got through one on one, only to be denied by keeper Tom Orton.Leon Greenwell made the breakthrough for Lion, bullet heading in a 15th-minute corner.Wild Boar came back into the game in the second half, with Rob Thompson heading an equaliser, but the visitors regained the lead with a 35-yard volley by Jordan Stannard, who then got the killer third goal.Craig Fletcher was Boar’s top man, with Jamie Appleby best for Lion.Ouston Cherry Tree made it six wins out of six to move up to third place, beating New Brancepeth WMC 7-3.Ouston’s bright start was rocked as Brancepeth opened the scoring, but the hosts were 2-1 up eight minutes later, thanks to strikes from Micky Ross and veteran Ryan Drummond.Brancepeth battled back to level from the penalty spot, tough Tree were in front at the break, thanks to Ross’s penalty.The visitors, whose scorers were Anthony Bussey, Robbie Barrass and Anthony Holliday, kept fighting and they levelled again early in the second half.But they failed to maintain the impetus and Ouston took control, hitting four more goals to run out easy winners, thanks to man of the match Chad Brennan (2), Ross, completing his hat-trick, and new signing Matthew Huntley, who produced an emphatic finish 10 minutes from time.

Old rivals Whitehills and Waldridge Park, who have followed each other up the league for the last few years, drew 1-1 in a close-fought derby.

Both teams had good spells, but all the drama came in the last few minutes.

Waldridge that took the lead in the 88th minute, capitalising on a defensive error, but Whitehills refused to give up and piled forward, with Ryan Grayson smashing in a last-gasp equaliser, reacting quickest to a loose ball in the box,to deservedly take a point from the game.James Mansell starred for Whitehills.Bede Lodge SC rocked morning leaders Framwellgate Moor WMC with a 5-2 away win in their Second Division derby.Chris Dodds, David Duke, Sean Richardson, Mark Heslop and Jonathan Hodgson all notched for Bede, whose star man was Andrew Bell.

Ferryhill Celtic eased up after going 3-0 ahead at the break away to Pittington, as they ran out 4-1 winners.Jonathan Agar led the way with a hat-trick, backed by Jason White’s goal, with Luke Thompson star man.
High Handenhold Bird Inn pipped Ferryhill Community Hub 3-2, leapfrogging their opponents into fifth place.

Star man Ben Thompson, Dan Watkins and Tom Illingworth grabbed the crucial goals to cap a spirited performance in trying conditions.Ushaw Moor Cricket Club rallied from an early two-goal deficit to beat Pelton Crown 5-4 in a thriller.Connor Shaw had Pelton ahead in 54 seconds, and Mark Foster soon doubled the lead, withtheir pace up front and on the right wing causing Ushaw Moor problems.But the home side hit back strongly to go 4-2 up, with 10 minutes to go. Crown, who missed a penalty, responded brilliantly to level matters, thanks to a well-taken Stephen Burns brace, but the hosts hit an 85th-minute winner to clinch all three points.Lewis Cook grabbed a hat-trick for the cricketers, supported by efforts from Paul Taylor and Gary Clark, with Michael Abson star man.Witton Gilbert Travellers Rest climbed to fifth place in Division Four, just two points behind second-top Bowburn after an epic 5-4 victory over Birtley Coach and Horses.The 10-man Birtley side made Witton fight extremely hard for their win. David Callcutt converted a fine cross from six yards for the home opener, but Birtley broke away brilliantly to level.

The visitors led early in the second half, but Callcutt’s penalty restored parity. Bartlett immediately regained their advantage with a 25-yard free-kick, though a close-range Dan Cooke effort made it 3-3.Inspired Birtley bagged a fourth goal on the counter-attack, but Callcutt squared it again with a free-kick leveller, then hit his fourth, for the winner, with only a few minutes left.Sacriston WMC drew 2-2 with Brandon Sports Club in the only Premier Division game.Considering the difficult conditions, the match was played at a good tempo, with the scoreline a fair reflection of the gameBrandon came from behind twice courtesy of goals from man of the match Michael Fort and Gavin Mudd, with a powerful header.Chester Park Inn defeated Premier side Sacriston Cricket Club 2-0 in the Stonebridge Inn League Cup.Park Inn produced a great display in a close, hard-fought tie, with Paul Corlett making the breakthrough on the half hour. His second goal, on 65 minutes, settled the issue and Park Inn dug deep to keep out a Sacriston side who dominated much of the play but could not find the net in horrible conditions.Michael Jones shone for Park Inn, John Harrison for the visitors.Burnside WMC enjoyed a very solid, comfortable performance to reach the Stepy’s Coaches President’s Trophy semi-finals, winning 5-2 at Lumley Snooker Club.The visitors’ Craig Ellison fired the opener, a free-kick into the top corner after he was brought down outside the box, but Lumley levelled with a very tidy finish on the counter-attack.An own goal defending a Max Stoker effort and three more Ellison goals, making his tally four on the day, finished the tie off.Lewis Turnbull starred for Burnside, who were denied further goals by some great work from the home keeper.Two teams progressed to the third round of the Durham County Sunday Cup.Newton Aycliffe WMC earned a good 3-1 win at Hartlepool Rovers Quoit.Corey Nicholson had them in front at the break, but Quoit levelled on 75 minutes. In extra time, two deflected goals secured Aycliffe the victory.Sedgefield St Edmund’s won 2-1 at Billingham Whitehouse, with Kevin Hodgson and Calum Johnston notching.

Sunday 22nd November 2015

TWO SENT OFF, BUT SENIORS HOLD FIRM TO SEND HOUGHTON WILD BOAR SPIRALLING OUT OF GUARDS CUP

Durham County Seniors held on with nine men to knock Houghton Wild Boar All-Stars out of the JD Taxis Guards Cup.Boar opened the scoring, sparking a frenetic first half which ended 3-3.County went 4-3 up in the second period before having two players (Kieran Bowes and keeper David Pritchard) sent off – one for a rash tackle and another for foul language to­wards the referee.Despite Boar having the ma­jority of possession, they were unable to create any good goal­scoring opportunities.Star man Dan Johnston, Shaun Corner and Craig Fletcher netted for Houghton.Two clinical close-range fin­ishes by Josh Gregory led the way for County, backed by an improvised back-heeled efford from substitute John West and a headed own goal. Adam Birks was their star man.Langley Park deservedly edged past Ushaw Moor Crick­et Club, impressively dominat­ing from start to finish.They relied on a single goal to win the tie, though, Mike Barker netting 15 minutes from time. Ushaw Moor de­fended well, restricting the hosts to largely long-range ef­forts, and they managed to hit the post in on of their raids.Simon Moralee starred for Langley, with Michael Abson best for Ushaw.Hetton New Inn went down 5-1 to an impressive, young Chester Garden Farm side in their Stepy’s Coaches Presi­dent’s Trophy third round tie.Keith Finch’s ‘dragged ‘ penalty pulled battling Het­ton back to 2-1, but a couple of well-taken goals killed them off. Star man Ryan Johnson (2), Bailey Hunter, Dan Johnson and David Walsh all notched for Garden Farm.Keeper David Hartill was outstanding for New Inn.Pelton Crown lost 2-1 to Dur­ham County in an excellent tie.Despite difficult conditions, both teams played good foot­ball. Two Jack Carr goals gave Durham the win, with Kris Lawton replying. Steven Shaw shone for Pelton, with Bradley Hird best for County.Bishop Middleham felt hard done to in their 6-0 defeat at Ferryhill Celtic, believing the scoreline was harsh against a battling visiting side who started with 10 men.Bishop, with Philip Best starring, caused plenty of problems but fell behind against the run of play, and never really recovered.John Makepeace scored the opener, after a neat one-two, then Shane Todd rounded the keeper to net the second, after a goal kick was flicked on.In the second half, man of the match Jason White was given too much room and he ran the show as Todd, Luke Thompson (2) and sub Andrew Agar completed the scoring.Newton Aycliffe WMC pro­gressed in the FA Sunday Cup, coming through a tough tie against Liverpool side Garston. They won 4-2 on pen­alties after a 1-1 draw and will be at home in the third round against Northumberland out­fit Burradon and New Fordley on December 13.Sedgefield St Edmund’s pummeled battling visitors Ouston Juniors 6-1 in the Bishop Auckland Heart Foun­dation Cup, with Matthew Mc­Adam firing the consolation.Burnside WMC outgunned Quarrington Hill WMC 5-0 in a very one-sided Third Division contest, and they could have won by an even bigger margin.First-half goals from Craig Ellison and Max Stoker sent Burnside WMC into cruise control. A second from Elli­son, followed by a double from Kris Jobling, finished the game comfortably.

Houghton got back to win­ning ways, squeezing past Chester-le-Street AFC in a 2-1 away victory.

A hard-fought game in aw­ful conditions saw Houghton take a two-goal lead, thanks to Danny Grant’s long-range ef­fort and a well-worked Andy Brooke goal.

Chester pulled one back a minute from half-time. The second half brought no more goals but was dominated by Houghton for long periods.Dubmire WMC cruised to an 11-0 victory over luckless High Shincliffe Avenue, who started with 10 men and had a player sent off early on when they felt a booking would have sufficed.Hilda Park and Pelaw Grange Dogs shared the spoils in an entertaining Premier Di­vision derby which ended 3-3.Hilda took the lead after just 55 seconds, with a free kick floated in for Marc Smith to head home.

Aaron Sheriff followed suit to place his set piece past the Dogs keeper to make it 2-0, though Pelaw pulled one back within a couple of minutes.

The visitors ran through the Hilda defence to equalise in the second half.

Hilda restored their lead when Max Moss was brought down in the penalty box and Chris Duke converted from the spot, but again Pelaw hit back to level. Pelaw keeper Jordan Stevens was man of the match, keeping out at least seven clear-cut chances.

Chilton WMC came from be­hind to outgun Chester Britan­nia 8-1.

Britannia took the lead af­ter some sloppy defending from Chilton early on, but the visitors pulled themselves to­gether to take a 3-1 lead into half-time, before taking total control on the restart.

Kyle Wren and Kieran Har­nett both struck twice, backed by Nicky Pickford, Vinny Gash, David Harrison and Gary Shaw, with Michael Searby man of the match.

Brandon Sports Club made the most of their chances to get the better of Sacriston WMC, winning a close-fought clash 2-0.Sacriston had the better of the early exchanges without creating any clear chances. In the end, a flicked header from Andrew Morris and a cool fin­ish from star man David Fort decided the game.

New Brancepeth WMC re­covered from three goals down to secure a thrilling 6-4 First Division win over second-top Waldridge Park.Waldridge started brilliant­ly, going 3-0 up, only for the hosts to grab two back by half-time and then go ahead in the second period. Park hit back at 5-4, but the home side grabbed the crucial, decisive 10th goal.Chris Days fired a hat-trick for Waldridge, with Adam Campbell Bell also notcjhing.

Star man Anthony Hol­liday’s treble steered Bran­cepeth home, helped by efforts from Omar Moustafa, Michael Crooks and Adam Purvis.Whitehills turned in a good performance to outgun an im­proving Chester Park Inn side 5-0 in their derby.

Doubles from star man Chris Savage and Ryan Gray­son led the way, backed by a strike from captain Stephen Fisher. Michael Jones stood out for Park Inn.

Coxhoe Red Lion were left hanging on to claim victory over West Rainton, who fought back gamely from a four-goal deficit.

In a game of two halves, Cox­hoe dominated the first peri­od, scoring three goals without reply. Keeper Tom Orton made some fine saves to keep Rain­ton at bay, and the tie looked over when Coxhoe hit a fourth in the second half, but Rainton showed tremendous character to rally strongly, firing three goals to leave the hosts on edge before the final whistle.

Sub Jordan Stannard hit a hat-trick for Lion, with star man Michael Oughton also on target.

High Handenhold Bird Inn drew 5-5 with Pittington in an epic Second Division clash.

Bird felt their passing was terrible and let the visitors back into the game. Marc Wood (2), Shane Swift, Thomas Illingworth and Dan Watkins all netted for Bird.

ert Travellers Rest contin­ued their good run of form with another decent performance in a 3-2 Fourth Division win at Newton Hall Jovial Monk.

After a strong start from Witton, Monk took the lead against the run of play, but the visitors quickly equalised with a good finish from early sub Dan Cooke.

Monk attacked more in the second half, but a stunning 25-yarder from David Lumley put the visitors ahead. Monk levelled on 80 minutes, when a cross hit the bar and landed straight at the feet of the striker, who finished from close range.

Witton continued to push for a winner and grabbed it when a corner was met with a bullet header from man of the match Gavin McCormack.

Bowburn pipped Bearpark 4-3

Bearpark opened the scor­ing before Andrew Robin­son levelled, but the visitors stormed 3-1 up by half-time.

Bowburn, with Adam Kirk starring, took control in the second half, with Daniel Crisp pulling a goal back and Sean McGrail levelling from the penalty spot. Edward Carr then hit a 77th-minute winner.