PONTELAND STAY IN CONTACT – BUT ONLY JUST

14th November

By Bill Gardner
Only two of three scheduled Premier Division matches went ahead and second-placed Ponteland United trimmed the lead of front runners Alnwick Town to ten points by beating visitors Gateshead Rutherford 3-0.
With club captain Craig Brownout injured Pont handed a debut to new signing Stephen Salter and brought in promising keeper Ryan Carter for the absent Gareth Powell and Michael Havelock.

On Rutherford’s first ever visit to the Leisure Centre Ground they started brightly with Joe Hindmarch heading narrowly wide and Linton Smith going close with his free kick. United then created a few opportunities themselves and went in front five minutes before the break when Harry Tulip beat Gateshead keeper Dave Bebbington with his low drive.

Inside the first ten minutes of the second half the game was killed off as a contest by two more Ponteland goals. On 52 minutes a cross from Andrew Davidson was volleyed home from close range by Richard Kent. And almost immediately Kent turned provider, crossing from the right for Davidson to score with a rare header and take his recent goals tally to six in six outings.

In the other top flight league game Stocksfield emerged as 5-2 victors in their bottom of the table clash away to Cramlington Town to hoist themselves clear of the basement. Two of the winners’ goals were slotted in by Sandy Tordoff with Scott Johnson, Jamie Starkey and Pat Finnerty providing the others. Andrew Carr and Dan Branley replied for Cramlington who stayed level on points with Murton at the foot of the Premier Division.

Third round ties in the Kicks Leisure George Dobbins League Cup were hit by the weather but four of the seven planned games went ahead. And last season’s cup winners Hebburn Reyrolle bowed out following their 2-1 defeat at Wark. Tom McAlindon bagged both of Wark’s goals in the first half and Hebburn’s single reply came from Kristian Wilkinson in the 75th minute.

In an all-Premier Division encounter at Grounsell Park, Heaton Stannington were restricted to a 1-0 victory over visitors Murton who belied their low league ranking. Michael Waggott claimed what turned out to be Heaton’s winner after half an hour but Murton always looked capable of a comeback and only the woodwork denied them a late equaliser.

Alnwick Town carried their sparkling league form into the cup arena and booked their place in the League Cup’s last eight with a 3-0 home win against First Division opponents Heddon. The plucky visitors held out for 50 minutes before Dale Kennedy finally got Alnwick off the mark. And inside the following twenty minutes further goals were added by Chris Moffat and Stephen Hogg.

Blyth Town also made progress in the cup but needed the luxury of extra time and penalties to see off First Division visitors Cullercoats. Just before the break Graeme Heath fired Blyth in front but midway through the second half Sean Smith levelled for Cullercoats. Extra time produced no further goals and Blyth eventually won 4-2 in the spot kick shoot-out.

There are four third round games still to be decided in the League Cup with the updated draw for the quarter-finals now reading: Whitley Bay A or Harraby Catholic Club v Alnwick Town, Ashington Colliers or Newcastle University v Wark, Heaton Stannington v Amble United or Percy Main and Blyth Town v Shankhouse or Walker Central.

Carlisle City’s game away to Wigton in the third round of the Cumberland Senior Cup was postponed and rescheduled for this Saturday. Northbank made progress however by beating visitors Silloth 2-1 with goals in each half for Andy Rogerson and Ross Irving.

Harraby Catholic Club made a surprising exit from the county cup after losing 3-2 to hosts Eden Thistle who had started as relative outsiders in the competition. Two hotly disputed first half spot kicks both put away by the Thistle’s Stephen Golding put their visitors on the back foot and Phil Wynne scored a third goal before Harraby’s late replies came from Brett Swift and Mark Worrall (penalty). This was a major upset for the Northern Alliance’s reigning champions Harraby and after the game they bemoaned what they saw as some inexplicable decisions which hadn’t been in their favour.

DIVISIONS ONE & TWO – PETERLEE SOAR UP THE TABLE
The wet weather leading up to the weekend played havoc with fixtures in Division One and Division Two and there were eight scheduled games postponed.

In Division One Peterlee Town entertained Newcastle East End in the only surviving league game and the Newtowners won 5-0 to move up five notches into third spot. The East End had been performing quite well prior to this encounter but fell behind when Peter Crawford bagged an early brace for Peterlee.

A missed penalty attempt on the half hour mark was the East End’s last chance to save the game and after the break things went from bad to worse. Graham Ball increased the home side’s lead and after 70 minutes the Newcastle keeper was sent off after conceding a penalty which was put away by Crawford to complete his hat-trick. And with two minutes to spare Peterlee’s nap hand was topped up by Graham Lacey as they completed a league double against the Tynesiders.

In a second round tie in the Pin Point Recruitment Combination Cup there was a 2-1 victory for Whitley Bay A at Hillheads against Wallington. Both of Whitley’s goals were claimed by Dean Porter to put them into this season’s semi-finals.

South Shields United made progress in the Pin Point Recruitment Charity Cup’s first round by beating visitors North Shields Athletic 2-0. Goals late in each half by Aristote Guerin (penalty) and Richard Pinkney earned South Shields a trip into Cumbria to face Northbank Carlisle in next month’s quarter- finals.

Holders Morpeth Sporting Club retained their interest in this season’s Ideal Stelrad Northumberland Minor Cup and in a tie switched to the all weather pitch at Gateshead Stadium they beat cup opponents West Jesmond 3-2. The Morpeth marksmen to put them though were Mark Armstrong, Luke Jamieson-Yip and Graham Carter. Meanwhile other Minor Cup matches involving Northern Alliance sides were affected by the weather and have been rearranged for this weekend when Cramlington United host Blake law Cub and Forest Hall are away to Gosforth Bohemians A. And, after two postponements, Cramlington’s cup-tie may be switched to Blakelaw.

Only one of seven Division Two league games was able to go ahead and Whitley Bay Town celebrated their first away win of the campaign. The Town beat Red House Farm 3-2 and had a hat-trick hero in Chris Atkin. Nathan Johnstone claimed both replies for the Farm who stayed put in mid-table while Whitley Bay eased themselves clear of the basement.