A SECOND TITLE FOR WALKER

By Bill Gardner
If they managed to beat Wark at Monkchester last Monday night, Walker Central would have claimed the Premier Division title for the second year running. And their management duo of Paul Bennett and Andy Wood would have been able to bow out on a high note before taking over the reins at West Allotment Celtic in the Northern League next season.

Walker took a massive step towards another championship triumph by beating second-placed rivals Gillford Park 2-1, simultaneously retaining their unbeaten record at Monkchester. They had drawn 1-1 with visitors Seaton Delaval in midweek when they needed John Campbell’s successful spot kick to cancel out a Steve Howes opener for their opponents.

Club top scorer Campbell was on the mark again and gave the Central an interval lead against Gillford Park, firing home from eight yards out as he met a low cross from Paul Mills. The Park’s Ian Grainger levelled five minutes after the break. Unfortunately for the Cumbrians however, Walker were presented with a 70th minute winner as visiting defender Craig Thompson put the ball into his own net, under pressure from Campbell.

With Walker having the league title almost sewn up, the battle for the runners-up spot is continuing with Gillford Park under threat from neighbours Harraby Catholic Club. Harraby kept the pressure on by beating visitors Heaton Stannington 3-0 but didn’t find it easy.

Harraby were matched by Heaton in a goal-less opening half but once they had the strong wind in their favour it was a different story. Only the woodwork denied Rob Bainbridge as the Cumbrians pressed forward and after their young substitute Aaron Roberts was unlucky to see his lob carried just wide by the wind he opened the scoring after 78 minutes. He cut in from the left flank and after skipping past two Heaton defenders drilled his 20-yard drive inside the near post.

With Roberts causing problems , Harraby increased their lead in the 84th minute and, when his cross was handled by a Heaton defender, Mike Swift scored confidently from the spot. Then, only two minutes later Harraby scored their third and when a pass from James Tose put Bainbridge clear he fired low past the Heaton keeper.

Harraby are now only four points behind Gillford Park with a game in hand and if they manage to overtake their rivals they’ll deprive Gillford of their chance to step up to the Northern League so the stakes are really high.

Seaton Delaval look almost certain to finish in fourth spot and ended a run of three drawn games on the trot with a comprehensive 4-0 victory away to Wark. Player-manager Nicky Gray led by example by scoring two of Delaval’s goals and Steve Anderson also bagged a brace.

While there are still some twists and turns to come at the top of the table, results on Saturday condemned Murton and Peterlee Town to relegation. Both were beaten in respective penultimate games and Peterlee Town were soundly beaten 3-0 by hosts Ashington Colliers whose goals were shared by Richard Brown, Glen Bolton and David Brown.

Murton suffered a 2-1 defeat by visitors Newcastle University. After Tom Clark had given them the lead they were reeled back in after 80 minutes by Ben Burte’s equaliser and five minutes later his colleague Joe Foote snatched the University’s match-winner.

Ponteland United and Shankhouse each extended unbeaten runs to nine games and Ponteland featured in a goal-less stalemate with hosts Carlisle City who have drawn their last five games at Sheepmount. And Shankhouse beat Alnwick Town 2-1 at Northburn after trailing to Paul Yeadon’s opener for the Town. Darren Naylor got Shankhouse back on terms and with only two minutes to spare Anthony Moran claimed their winner.

Chris Taylor bagged a brace for Blyth Town in their 2-2 draw at home to Heddon who had twice been fired in front by Liam Heenan and Andrew Hall.

DIVISION ONE – SILVERWARE FOR CULLERCOATS
Favourites Stocksfield and Whitley Bay ‘A’, along with outsiders Killingworth YPC and Cullercoats, are still striving for a top two finish in the First Division. Cullercoats are still toiling through their fixture backlog but need to win all of their five remaining games to stand any chance of being promoted.
They did however pull off an amazing League Cup Final win at Prudhoe and sensationally beat Premier Division opponents Harraby Catholic Club 2-1 to lift the trophy.

Holders Walker Central and Seaton Delaval were among the victims of Cullercoats on their way to meeting Harraby. The Seasiders came up with another giant-killing performance and Femi Akinbolu gave Cullercoats a 23rd minute lead with his lob over the Harraby keeper. But the Cumbrians always looked dangerous and after the break Rob Bainbridge got them back on terms with his shot taking a lucky bounce before entering the net. Extra time was looming when Cullercoats snatched their winner in stoppage time. Once again Akinbolu was on target, this time with a clever back-heel in a goalmouth scramble.

Whitley Bay ‘A’ are in pole position in the First Division, level on points with Stocksfield who have a game in hand. The Bay however hammered Stocksfield 6-0 at Hillheads in midweek. They had Simon Reay (2), Dean Porter, Gavin Hattrick and Malcolm Morien on target with their tally topped up by an own goal gift.

The Whitley lads followed up with an equally convincing 5-0 win against visitors Wallington when their marksmen were again Morien (2), Hattrick, Porter and Reay. They were due to end their season with a game away to Cullercoats this week and victory for the Bay would leave Stocksfield needing four more points to pip them for the title. The Tyne Valley outfit beat hosts Seaton Burn 1-0 last Saturday with a quickly-taken free kick by Wayne Stewart and their outstanding games are at home to third-placed Killingworth YPC and fifth-placed Cullercoats.

Red Row Welfare and Seaton Burn can’t avoid filling the two unwanted berths at the foot of the table. And while the Burn were losing 1-0 to title chasers Stocksfield, Red Row Welfare lost by the same slender margin on their visit to Hebburn Reyrolle. A sending off left Reyrolle with ten men for two thirds of the game but Jay Telford’s second minute opener turned out to be conclusive.

Percy Main have missed out on possible promotion and had a mixed week starting with a 3-1 win away to Killingworth YPC thanks to strikes by Jason Ritchie, Graham Cole and Michael Freathy. But there was then a downturn for the Villagers as they lost 2-1 away to lowly Berwick United. Their only scorer this time was Jason Ritchie and the Borderers harvested the points with goals by Darren Cromarty (penalty) and Simon Hargreaves.

DIVISION TWO – AMBLE UNITED PASS THE WINNING POST
With a game to spare, Amble United have seen off the challenge of South Shields United to become champions in the Second Division. They claimed the title in midweek with a 4-0 victory at home to neighbours Amble FC when Brad Wake and Darren Riddell bagged a brace each. And the new champions will end their campaign this Saturday with a visit to Tynemouth United who are at the opposite end of the table.

Despite missing out in the championship race, South Shields United have guaranteed themselves a promotion slot. They will finish as runners-up after having Tijan Kah (2) and Iain Proud on target to beat last Saturday’s visitors Amble FC 3-1. And Gareth Allen’s side will bring the curtain down on a successful campaign with trips away to Wallsend Town and Stobswood Welfare.

At one point it looked as though Stobswood Welfare’s games in hand could offer them a chance of promotion but a final third place is now their best option. The Welfare beat midweek visitors Benfield Chemfica 3-1 with goals put away by Chris Graham (2) and Craig Keen but were beaten 2-1 by hosts Wallsend Boys’ Club three days later. On this occasion they had Michael Hogg cancelling out Rob Nolan’s opener for Wallsend but Nolan was on target again to earn maximum points for the home side.

Stobswood will finish in third spot if they can secure another seven points from their four remaining fixtures away to Tynemouth United and Wallsend Town and at home to Hexham and South Shields United. And they’ll need only a four-point haul to do the trick if Forest Hall, currently filling third place, are beaten in their final game away to Amble FC.

Tynemouth United could still avoid finishing on the bottom rung and in midweek recorded their first victory of the campaign. They beat hosts Whitley Bay Town 4-1 with goals by Chris Grieves (2), Mark Carey and Kevin Murphy. But United, reported to be resigning from the Alliance, have a tough task if they are to overtake second-bottom Newcastle BT. If BT lose their last two games at home to Amble FC and away to Benfield Chemfica the Tynemouth lads will still need seven more points to escape from the bottom rung. That may be a tall order considering that their remaining opponents are Stobswood Welfare (home), champions Amble United (home), Amble FC (away) and Hexham (away).