SHANKHOUSE UPSET DELAVAL AGAIN

By Bill Gardner
Seaton Delaval surrendered pole position to Walker Central after going down 2-1 at home to Shankhouse who have proved to be a jinx team for the Wheatridge Park outfit over the years. Things looked bright for Delaval when Steve Anderson fired them in front straight from the kick off. But just after the break Lee Gustard got Shankhouse back on terms and Craig Johnson put their 69th minute winner away.

Defending champions Walker Central are now leading the field although only four points are separating the top four title contenders. After their earlier 1-1 draw over in Cumbria the Central did considerably better and hammered Carlisle City 6-1 at Monkchester.

City’s Ollie Driver opened the scoring after 35 minutes but Walker were impressive after the break. In the space of fifteen devastating minutes the ball ended up in the Carlisle net five times. The home side’s marksmen were Paul Gardiner, John Campbell (2) and David Thompson (2) and with a minute to go Gardiner scored again to complete the winners’ tally.

In third spot behind Walker and Seaton Delaval, Alnwick Town completed a league double at the expense of visitors Cramlington Town. After winning 3-2 in the reverse fixture, Alnwick won 2-0 this time and have lost only one of their last six home games. Goals in each half for Ben Webster and Tony Brown did the damage in this one.

Gillford Park’s home game against Wark was postponed, giving their Cumbrian neighbours Harraby Catholic Club a chance to overtake them. But Harraby, beaten only once this term, missed out and were restricted to a 1-1 draw by fast-improving hosts Blyth Town. Blyth had won three of their four previous home games and were given the lead by Chris Lisle. Nick Routledge levelled on the stroke of half time for Harraby but they couldn’t make any further headway.

After eight games without a win Heaton Stannington avenged an earlier defeat by Newcastle University by beating the Students 2-1 at Grounsell Park. Strikes by Sean Graham and Kevin Carr earned Heaton a long-awaited but impressive victory and the visitors’ single reply came from Ben Burte.

The bottom of the table clash between hosts Murton and Ashington Colliers was won 4-0 by the Colliers to rid themselves of any immediate problems. Richard Brown and David Brown scored in the first half and Anthony Wright and Lee Scott in the second to wrap up the points for the Northumbrians.

Peterlee Town have picked up only a single point in their last seven appearances and were soundly beaten 6-0 at home by Ponteland United. Pont ended their own short lean spell in style with three goals in each half shattering the Newtowners and hoisting them clear of the basement.

With Andy Rendall unavailable and James Hall absent with a dislocated shoulder, Craig Daglish came into the centre of defence with young Scott Fenwick replacing Hall. The match was evenly contested in the first 15 minutes but Pont opened the scoring midway through the first half. Dean Gate’s cross into the box enabled Scott Fenwick to touch the ball over the line.

Ponteland’s lead was doubled on the half hour when good approach work by Liam McIvor and John Redhead was neatly finished off by Andrew Davidson. And almost immediately United claimed their third goal as Joe Dawson’s headed pass was put away by the speedy McIvor.

On the stroke of half time Pont got a fourth goal scored by Gate and it was game over. Peterlee made two substitutions at half time but this made little difference as Ponteland continued to be at their free-flowing best. The Newtowners conceded another two goals midway through the half as McIvor bagged his second with his colleague Dawson also on target.

DIVISION ONE – LEADERS BOTH CLAIM NARROW VICTORIES
Stocksfield have won every one of their five home games so far and are leading the field in the First Division, nine points clear of nearest challengers Whitley Bay ‘A’. Both won to preserve the status quo and Stocksfield completed a league double by beating visitors Gateshead Rutherford 2-1. Their scorers this time were Wayne Stewart with a diving header from Phil Murray’s cross and then Murray himself who grasped a simple tap in opportunity set up by Ben Pearson. Andy Reay replied for the losers.

After three successive draws, Whitley Bay ‘A’ beat third-placed rivals Cullercoats 2-1 at Hillheads to extend an unbeaten run to eight games. The Bay had Gavin Hattrick and Malcolm Morien on target in a hard-fought game in which Femi Akinbolu replied for the visitors.

Percy Main are still unbeaten at Purvis Park after their 3-0 win against Northbank but they had to wait almost an hour for their opener. Michael Freathy did the trick in a goalmouth scramble resulting from Pierre-Luc Coiffait’s flag kick. The lead was quickly doubled by Coiffait himself when he got on the end of Wyn Fremlin’s corner and with ten minutes to go Jason Ritchie completed the Main’s tally. His chance was set up clinically by Joe Betts.

Against the general run of play, Killingworth YPC beat hosts Chopwell Officials 2-1 and a goalkeeping error led to Kevin Westphal’s opener for Killy. The home side hit back through Andrew Smith to signal a possible revival but with Chopwell piling on the pressure Paul Ridley snatched a winner for their opponents.

Hebburn Reyrolle and visitors Seaton Burn had both been suffering from a dip in form prior to meeting up at Hebburn. Reyrolle were fired in front twice by Mark Haire (penalty) and Matt Donwall but replies from the Burn’s Ian Armstrong and Dave Hewitt restored parity. Then in the dying seconds, Armstrong netted again to make it 3-2 to Seaton Burn.

Red Row Welfare are still propping up the First Division table and seeking their first league point after eleven league appearances. They lost again, 3-2 on their visit to Gosforth Bohemian Garnett, to give their hosts a first home win of the season. The Welfare’s scorers were Bradley Smith and Josh Gilmartin but Gosforth harvested the points with goals shared by John McDonald, David Robinson and Paul Menton.

Berwick United, just four points better off than Red Row in the basement, were also beaten 3-2 by Wallington at Scots Gap. With no points from away games so far the Borderers conceded goals to Wallington’s Tom McPherson, Sam Walton and Ashley McAlpine before replying too late through Lee Walker and Chris Falconer.

DIVISION TWO – AMBLE BACK IN POLE POSITION
Former Second Division leaders South Shields United had an idle Saturday and they were nudged out of pole position by new pace-setters Amble United.

Amble United and fourth-placed Stobswood Welfare, who have several useful games in hand, are both sitting pretty as far as possible promotion is concerned. Both were enjoying hundred percent home records and Amble retained theirs by beating Wideopen & District 1-0. After several glaring misses in the first half United were happy to see Darren Riddell claiming their winner shortly after the break.

Stobswood Welfare spilled their first home points in a 2-2 draw with North Shields Athletic after throwing away a two-goal lead provided by Dean Hope and Josh Hay. The determined visitors were allowed to salvage a point with replies by Matthew Donkin and Glen Churchman.

Third-placed Forest Hall stayed in contention and beat hosts Wallsend Town 3-1 to remain unbeaten on their travels. Michael Reay bagged himself a brace for the winners whose other marksman was Kevin Baldwin. Paul McCutcheon netted for Wallsend as their misery continued; they’ve now lost seven league games on the trot.

Wallsend Boys’ Club have drawn their last four games on home turf so a goal-less stalemate with bottom rung side Tynemouth United wasn’t good news. The result however boosted Tynemouth’s morale as they picked up their first point of their campaign.

Benfield Chemfica and Hexham both secured vital victories to hoist themselves clear of the basement. In their bottom-of-the-table clash with visitors Whitley Bay Town, Chemfica clinched a 2-0 verdict with both of their goals put away in the first half by Liam Naulls.

Hexham are proving difficult to beat on their own patch and emerged as 3-2 winners against Newcastle BT. Dave Thompson and Anthony Bruce found the net for BT but their goals were just outweighed by the strikes of Ian Strachan (2) and Orin Parkinson for Hexham.