MURTON SHRUG OFF RELEGATION WORRIES

By Bill Gardner

The cold spell played havoc with the fixtures once again and only four Premier Division sides saw any action.

In the only league game Murton continued with their recent improvement which had brought them two wins and two draws in four games to hoist them well clear of the basement. The Murton lads made home advantage count to beat second bottom strugglers Newcastle University 2-0. After a goal-less draw in the reverse fixture the Students were sunk by a goal in each half both scored by Stephen Turner whose first was put away from the penalty spot.

Having beaten Heddon 2-1 in an earlier league fixture, Shankhouse completed a double over the Premier Division’s bottom club. Despite surrendering home advantage and switching their Kicks Leisure Challenge Cup second round tie to Bullocksteads, Shankhouse won 1-0 on this occasion. Their all-important goal was scored after 65 minutes by Anthony Moran.

Shankhouse will now be hosting either Carlisle City or Harraby Catholic Club in the forthcoming semi-finals. Their second round tie at Sheepmount was a victim of the weather. And in the other semi-final Ponteland United have been drawn away to either Blyth Town or Ashington Colliers.

Three games got the go-ahead in the First Division and second-placed Gateshead Rutherford trimmed the gap between themselves and current leaders Percy Main to only two points. Rutherford retained their unbeaten home record by claiming a 3-2 verdict and inflicting a fifth successive defeat on Peterlee Town.

After Craig Horsfall fired the Gateshead outfit into a fourth minute lead the Newtowners hit back strongly with replies in the 47th and 53rd minutes from Peter Crawford and then Martin Jones whose goal was a 25-yard special. Right on ninety minutes Andy Reay restored parity for the home side and in the second minute of stoppage time Kevin Hay snatched their winner.

After a four-match winning run Chopwell Officials were brought down to earth and were beaten 2-1 by visitors Hebburn Reyrolle. Andrew Smith opened the scoring for Chopwell before the interval but Hebburn responded after the break with strikes by Ray Oshin and Craig Watson which extended their own unbeaten run to six games.

A convincing 6-0 win for Gosforth Bohemians against visitors Morpeth Sporting Club allowed them to leapfrog over their opponents to claim fifth spot on the basis of goal difference. First half goals for Paul Hodge and Harry Tulip gave the Bohemians a launch pad. And after Danny Sherwood scored their third Tulip rounded off an impressive personal performance by completing a second half hat-trick and taking his tally to four.

The league’s fixture secretaries Geoff Mason and George Davison face an even tougher challenge after the latest crop of postponements. Seven teams in the Premier Division haven’t completed half of their league fixtures yet, with Ashington Colliers, Harraby Catholic Club, Newcastle University and Alnwick Town being the worst affected. And Harraby are in the most challenging position, having retained an interest in the Cumberland Senior Cup, Kicks Leisure League Cup and also the Kicks Leisure Challenge Cup.

Clubs in the league’s two lower divisions are facing similar frantic run-ins to the end of this frustrating season and the Northumberland Minor Cup’s frequent postponements have caused recurring difficulties.

Morpeth Sporting Club have played only two First Division games since 7th November while their divisional colleagues Seaton Burn appeared in their last league fixture way back on 31st October. Similar Minor Cup hold-ups have afflicted Amble, Wallsend Town and Stobswood Welfare in the Second Division. All three haven’t kicked a ball for league points since the last Saturday in November.

Up to the end of May there are only about fourteen Saturdays remaining so, considering that some cup competitions at league and county level are behind schedule, there are going to be a lot of games to push in. And if the weather continues in the same vein into March serious problems will emerge.

A RAY OF CUP HOPE FOR HEDDON

By Bill Gardner
Despite their bottom rung perch in the Premier Division, Heddon were still good enough to see off Second Division opponents Cullercoats Custom Planet in the third round of the Kicks Leisure League Cup. Warren Fisher’s outfit had Dave Tremble and Daniel Robison on target to secure a 2-1 victory with Edmund Garrett replying for the losers.

Newcastle University, second bottom in the top flight, also booked themselves a place in the last eight by beating First Division side Wallington 2-1 at Cochrane Park. Ben Castillo and Michael Forrest hit back successfully for the Students after Ross Donnelly had fired their visitors into a 55th minute lead.

Shankhouse lifted the League Cup in 2005 but, despite their third round home advantage in this year’s competition, were beaten 4-3 by lower-ranked Gosforth Bohemians. The Bohs, leading 2-0 at the interval, always had their noses in front and their marksmen were Harry Tulip (2), John Hewitt and Ben Edusei. Darren Naylor (2) and Anthony Moran replied in vain for Shankhouse.

In two of three quarter-final tussles getting the go-ahead in the Northumberland Senior Bowl, Killingworth Sporting and Alnwick Town made progress although both needed extra time to see them through.

Killingworth were away to Blyth Town who had been Bowl winners in the previous two campaigns but their hopes of a hat-trick were dashed and Killy won 4-2 with goals shared by Kevin Westphal, Nick Hindhaugh, Andrew Edmundsen and Kevin Grahamslaw. Both of Blyth’s replies came from Chris Lisle.

Alnwick Town made the semi-final cut with a 3-2 victory away to Cullercoats and they had a hat-trick hero in Tony Brown. Craig Deighton scored both of the Cullercoats goals.
In the Premier Division, runaway leaders Wark boosted their title hopes by beating second-placed visitors Walker Central 2-1. Walker’s Paul Newton-Eddie cancelled out Edward Brazier’s early opener for the home side but in the 87th minute Wark’s lead was restored by Tony Lancaster.

Carlisle City passed up another chance of improving on their current fifth place and stayed put after their goal-less draw away to Cramlington Town. But City’s neighbours Harraby Catholic Club are moving up the table and recorded their fourth win on the trot by beating hosts Ponteland United 2-1. Ross Phillips returned to the centre of Ponteland’s defence, having been sidelined by injury for four months. And Pont should have taken the lead after ten minutes when Richard Kent hit the bar and from the rebound Billy Holden’s header was cleared off the line.

Only three minutes later Kent was in on goal again but his effort was saved by visiting keeper Andy Wills. And after seventeen minutes Harraby were in front when Andrew Douglas’s low cross was turned into his own net by United’s Glenn Ford.

Despite this setback Ponteland had Liam McIvor and Ford bringing good saves out of Wills but as the pitch started to cut up scoring chances became limited. And the Cumbrians still had their noses in front at the interval.

Five minutes after the restart Harraby doubled their lead however when Pont defender Craig Daglish brought James Earl down and Mike Swift beat Havelock with his spot kick. But the visitors were reduced to ten men after 65 minutes by the sending off of keeper Wills who was replaced in goal by Ian Milburn. The substitute keeper was unable to keep out the resulting penalty taken by home substitute Andrew Davidson.

Despite playing with ten men Harraby could have increased their lead but Andy Douglas blasted his shot over the bar after meeting Balmer’s fine cross. Pont nearly snatched an equaliser through Holden as he fired narrowly wide after beating Milburn to a loose ball. Then In the dying seconds another red card was flourished, this time to Ponteland’s Glenn Ford.

Improving Murton won 4-1 at home to Seaton Delaval to lift themselves clear of the relegation zone. Goals for Paul Wintrip (2) and Karl Garside put Murton well clear at half time and Martin Pearce completed their tally after 75 minutes. Only five minutes remained when player-manager Nicky Gray finally got Delaval off the mark.

DIVISION ONE – RELIEF FOR WHITLEY
The promotion race at the head of the First Division has come to a temporary halt due to the combined effects of cup games and the weather. But Whitley Bay A moved up into fourth place thanks to their 4-2 victory away to strugglers Newcastle East End.

This was a ninth defeat on the trot for the East Enders who were also docked points last week and Whitley were thankful to bring their own losing run to an end. After falling behind to a Dean Holmes opener for their hosts only a minute after kick off the Bay soon got their act together. By half time they had hit back through Jamie Lyndon, Dean Porter, Chris Gilhespie and Joe Riley. The East End’s second goal was scored in the 80th minute by Anthony Johnson but they were well beaten.

In the only other league game in the First Division, Chopwell Officials made it four wins on the trot by beating lowly hosts Northbank 5-2 over in Carlisle. A brace claimed by Chris Grainger gave the Cumbrians an early two-goal lead. A successful spot kick by Lee Best got Chopwell off the mark before the interval and they ran the show after the sending off of Northbank’s Mark Stevenson early in the second half. Best went on to score his second for the visitors and further goals were added by Roland Lee, Chris Gill and Andrew Smith.

Gateshead Rutherford failed to pick up their dream ticket in the Durham FA Trophy. Victory over their semi-final hosts Chester-le-Street Whitehills would have earned them a cup final meeting with Alliance colleagues Hebburn Reyrolle but instead they suffered a disappointing 3-1 defeat. Craig Horsfall netted for Rutherford to make it all square at 1-1 at half time but after they had Aaron Sheriff red-carded they were fighting a losing battle.

DIVISION TWO – TYNEMOUTH CLIMB OUT OF DANGER
Only two of four league games beat the weather in the Second Division with home games involving Forest Hall and Wideopen & District having to be postponed. And both Newcastle BT and Tynemouth United picked up maximum points.

Goals for Greg Palmer and Dan Sherliker (2) inside the first half hour gave Newcastle BT a three-goal interval lead at home to Wallsend Boys Club. The visitors came back strongly with replies from Anthony Williamson and Michael Starkie in the 70th and 80th minutes but BT hung on to win 3-2 and they’ve now remained unbeaten in their last seven games on home turf.

The importing of several new players has been beneficial for Tynemouth United and the Seasiders have hauled themselves out of the Second Division basement thanks to four straight wins on their own patch. Swalwell became their latest victims and were beaten 4-2 by their new look hosts. Tynemouth avenged their earlier defeat at Swalwell with goals scored this time by Chris Hutchinson, Dean Marsh and Mike Armstrong who bagged himself a brace. Chris Smith and Stuart Rook were responsible for Swalwell’s replies.

In the first round of the Pin Point Recruitment Charity cup there was a remarkable 8-4 victory for Whitley Bay Town at home to Willington Quay Saints. The Town had James Mitchinson and Chris Fairley both claiming hat-tricks with their other two goals put away by Chris Atkin and Ben Kiddie. Willington’s replies came from Mark Henderson (2), Glen Johnson and Phil Dolan. The cup-tie was preceded by a minute’s silence in memory of Saints chairman Graham Ford (brother of manager Trevor Ford) who died suddenly last week at the age of 51.

Once again there was little action in the Northumberland Minor Cup as the fixtures continued to pile up due to pitches being waterlogged. But Newcastle Chemfica made further progress at the expense of fifth round visitors and Northern Alliance colleagues Berwick United.

Chemfica, who knocked out cup holders Blakelaw in a previous round, were drawing 2-2 with Berwick at the end of extra time thanks to strikes by Mike Crozier and Paul Brown. But they were able to celebrate after winning 4-2 in the resultant spot kick shoot-out.

PONT REACH CUP SEMIS

By Bill Gardner
After a break of almost two months, Ponteland United returned to action and faced a difficult test at home to Seaton Delaval in the second round of the Kicks Leisure Challenge Cup. United had celebrated a 1-0 victory in an identical league game and completed a league and cup double, beating their visitors 4-1 after extra time on this occasion.

United were at full strength with Liam McIvor returning up front following a three match suspension and they welcomed newcomer Jeff Forsyth to the starting line-up to make his debut..
After only five minutes Pont had a strong appeal for a penalty for handball turned down and the game settled into a pattern of robust challenges. And McIvor almost scored with a header when he got on the end of a cross from Richard Kent before firing over from thirty yards with the Delaval keeper out of position.

Half time arrived with honours even although Ponteland had created the majority of scoring chances and they continued in the same vein. McIvor and the lively Holden were causing problems for the visiting defence but Max Turner and Paul Hodgson wasted further opportunities to put their side in front. Holden however did the trick on the hour mark and when Delaval keeper Mundy palmed out a low cross from Turner, Holden reacted quickly to bang the loose ball into the roof of the net.

Delaval battled hard to get back on terms and Stephen Anderson was only thwarted by the combined challenges of United’s Ford and Forsyth. And with ten minutes to go the visitors got back on terms when a lofted free kick was headed powerfully home by centre back Andy Johnson.

After their long spells of inactivity over the winter, neither side relished an extra half hour in the heavy conditions but Ponteland proved the strongest. After Dean Gate restored their lead by finding the net when Andrew Davidson’s flag kick was helped on by McIvor they never looked likely to let things slip. Their superiority was confirmed when the tireless Kent bagged himself a brace in the second extra period to give a final score-line which was a truer reflection of the overall action. And Pont can now look forward to visiting either Blyth Town or Ashington Colliers in the forthcoming Challenge Cup semi-finals.

With the weather still biting into the fixture schedules only two of four games in the Premier Division, both over in Cumbria, were able to go ahead. And with several useful games in hand,

Harraby
Harraby Catholic Club got their league programme back under way after the long break by entertaining Cramlington Town and were soon on top and showing no signs of being ring rusty on their way to a stunning 9-0 victory.

Town keeper Gourley had kept out early efforts from James Earl and Daniel Balmer but Harraby were fired in front after twenty minutes by Balmer who beat Gourley from the edge of the box. The lead was extended after half an hour when Andrew Douglas was sent sprawling and the resultant penalty was tucked away by Mike Swift.

Before the break Harraby claimed a third goal when Earl’s long range free kick was headed home at the back post by Mark Thompson. The home side continued to apply heavy pressure after the change-over and when Marc Shiel turned the ball into the path of Douglas he ghosted past two defenders before firing into the bottom corner from twenty yards.

More goals seemed inevitable and Cramlington suffered further hits at regular intervals with Andrew Douglas turning out to be their chief tormentor. He banged in four second half goals to leave the visitors on their knees and for good measure Harraby’s final tally was boosted by strikes by James Earl and Aaron Roberts.

Harraby’s neighbours Carlisle City still haven’t managed to regain the form that installed them in fifth spot with a chance of having a say in the championship race. After three straight defeats City could only manage a 2-2 draw at home to a Newcastle University side second from bottom in the Premier Division pecking order.

Fifty minutes of stalemate was ended by Chris Major’s opener for Carlisle but it was cancelled out for the Students by James Gavin. Major’s second goal in the 78th minute restored City’s advantage but with six minutes to go Tom Milne levelled again for the University to earn them a badly-needed point.

The only one of four quarter-final ties in the Northumberland Senior Bowl to beat the weather was at Wark where the home side made progress by beating Ashington Colliers 2-1. Wark never looked likely to repeat their 4-0 success in an identical league fixture but just did enough. They had Jamie Peel and Marc Nixon scoring inside the first twenty minutes and the Colliers could only muster a single reply from Scott Smith.

First Division outfit Hebburn Reyrolle booked their place in the final of the Durham FA Trophy with a 3-0 victory at home to Darlington Cleveland Bridge. Ray Oshin’s first half brace set up Hebburn and midway through the second half a third goal put away by Simon Jacobs wrapped up the tie. The Reyrolle lads are now hoping for an all-Northern Alliance cup final against colleagues Gateshead Rutherford who travel to take on Chester-le-Street Whitehills in next Saturday’s other semi-final.


DIVISIONS ONE & TWO – NORTH SHIELDS GO TOP
Only one game beat the weather in the First Division and only because Peterlee Town forfeited home advantage and switched to the ground of opponents Chopwell Officials. The Newtowners didn’t benefit from the decision and were beaten 2-1. Mark Fitzpatrick and David Purdy netted for the winners with Peterlee’s single reply coming from Andre w Harrison.
North Shields Athletic have replaced Amble at the head of the Second Division table although the latter now have a couple of games in hand. Yet to be beaten at home, the Shieldsmen leapfrogged over their promotion rivals thanks to their 1-0 victory over lowly visitors Wallsend Boys Club. The game’s only and vital goal was scored by Antonio Mango midway through the first half.

Despite occupying third spot at the moment, Wideopen & District have been enduring a damaging lean spell and have gathered a meagre two points from their last five league games. The trend continued when they went down 2-1 away to Forest Hall who retained their unbeaten home record and Are now in fourth place. Kevin Baldwin claimed both of Forest’s first half goals to leave Wideopen chasing the game and they only managed a single reply by Adam Campbell after the interval.

Mid-table outfit Hexham are the Second Division’s draw experts having featured in eight stalemates already this season. They had drawn 2-2 against latest visitors Newcastle BT in an earlier meeting but this time, at Wentworth Park, they secured a 3-1 victory. 17-year-old Curtis Harvey, promoted from the club’s junior ranks, marked his senior debut with Hexham’s opener and the lead was doubled by a successful penalty taken by Scott Coates. On the stroke of half time Simon Mattock pulled a goal back for BT but their hopes were soon dashed. Home captain Gavin Cox scored a lucky third goal for Hexham when he got a touch to a flag kick.

Since importing several new players, Tynemouth United are finally showing signs of improvement and picked up their first points away from home. A 3-2 win against Cullercoats Custom Planet hoisted United clear of the basement while avenging an earlier 1-0 defeat by the Planetarians. Shane Brooks scored two of the Tynemouth goals and their vital third was a tremendous 30-yard direct free kick powered in by Stephen Matthews. The Cullercoats replies came from Edmund Garrett (penalty) and Nigel Morris.

CUP PROBLEMS MOUNT UP
Progress has been held up in the Northumberland Senior Bowl and Northumberland Minor Cup and in the Minor Cup there’s been a real fixture pile-up. And while Northern Alliance clubs are caught up in this county cup log jam their schedule of outstanding league games is causing even more headaches.

Of five Minor Cup matches scheduled for last weekend, only one was played and Morpeth Sporting Club beat fourth round visitors Killingworth Plough 5-0. An own goal gift completed Morpeth’s nap hand after their other goals were shared by Karl Snowden, John Paxton, Chris Tate and Scott Pocklington.