Spraire edge to narrow Saints win

Spraire had seven corners in the first half but were unable to convert their chances, as the St.Francis defence held firm. A solid display by all Spraire players paid off when Luke Boardman found space in the box to poke him from close range. Spraire held on for the fully deserved 1- 0 victory. Man of the match was captain Lewis Walton, a brilliant defensive performance.

Spraire Lads Under-10s, sponsored by EHL Electrical & Mechanical Services, hosted Barnard Castle in their last game before the Christmas break and were extremely unfortunate to lose 1-0.

Spraire fell a goal behind from a corner converted by the leagues top scorer Harvey Saunders within the first five minutes. Spraire then began to get into their stride with Bradley Bell having their best opportunity of the first half.

Spraire carried on into the second half and continued to push Barnard Castle back. Barnard Castle did have a chance to double their lead but Harry Herraghty saved a penalty superbly.

Spraire deserved to equalise with Ben Joyeux and Joshua Parker having Spraire's best opportunities. Man of the match was Adam Oliver.

In the friendly afterwards Spraire won comfortably 6-0. Jack Mackin opened the scoring with Jack Adams doubling their lead with a well-struck finish from distance. Bradley Bell capitalised on a rebounded shot to take Spraire into a 3-0 lead and Harry Herraghty added a fourth before half-time.

In the second half Jack Adams slotted home for his second and Spraire's fifth. Adam Oliver completed the scoring for what was a superb performance by the lads

Spraire Lads Under-11s, sponsored by Astra Transport, faced a top of the table clash with Heighington at the weekend. Heighington struck the first blow scoring twice but despite this Spraire fought back to go in at half-time 3-2 up with two goals from top scorer Shane Turner and one from Lewis Beardwell.

The second half saw a reversal of fortunes for Spraire and in a hard-fought battle between the two teams it was Heighington who came out on top finishing the game 6-3 winners. Man of the match was Rhys Hunter.

Spraire Lads Under-12s produced a great game to watch at Trimdon, between two teams who played some great attacking football. Spraire Lads took the lead first with a well-taken goal from Jake Davies, but Trimdon soon hit back to level at 1-1 at half-time.

In the second half it was Trimdon who scored to take the lead. Spraire were awarded a penalty which Dillon Ward took but his shot was saved by the Trimdon keeper.

This inspired Spraire to go on the attack and a deserved goal scored by Lee Varley levelled the match at 2-2. Spraire kept the scores level until ten minutes from the end, when Trimdon scored again after a great effort from Spraire to clear the ball off the line to win the game 3-2.

Spraire Lads Under-14s B went to Trimdon in search of their first victory of the season. They came back from behind to take the lead with two fine goals by Stan Clitheroe. Russell Holliday and Nathan Bickerton worked hard in central defence to protect the lead and Michael Williams in goal made a series of excellent saves to add another man of the match to his tally.

The midfield, including Alex Oliver, Lewis Todd and Rob Gilmour, controlled the game in the first half and full-backs Jack Elliot and Nathan Miller were steady in defence. Up front Jake Bondarenko was always dangerous and Sam McGlynn and Harry Cornish gave good support. However, the home team levelled from a corner to share the points.

Spraire Lads Under-16s had one of their best performances of the season in a game which saw them win 5-1 at Mount Pleasant. Spraire opened the scoring through Hastie, Irvine added the second just before half-time before Coglan got one back for Mount Pleasant.

In the second half Spraire pulled away with further goals from Hastie, Wood and Harland. An excellent team performance in which every single player played their part.

Spraire Under-8s dominated their game from kick-off with a great performance. Sam Swain, playing his debut game for Spraire scored the first goal of many. Four further goals followed from Joel Hutchinson, Sam Swain and Kane Appleton in the first half.

In the second half Sam and Joel both claimed hat-tricks, and Kane scored his second. The game finished with Joel scoring his fourth goal two minutes before full-time, making the final score 9-0. Kane Appleton was named man of the match.

21st Allstars

Under-13s 3 Stockton West End 1

ALLSTARS were due to play at home but after all games were postponed at Longfield they played away.

It turned out to be a good decision when they returned from a previously unbeaten Stockton with all three points. It was a good entertaining game played in heavy conditions. Allstars went in at half-time with a 1-0 lead thanks to a great chip over the keeper from Bradley Simpson.

In the second half S.W.E came out fighting but it was Allstars who were awarded a penalty with 20 minutes to go. It was put away to make it 1-1. S.W.E. had their best spell after that and a draw looked likely until one of their defenders handled in the box and David Hookway put the spot kick away to make it 2-1. David then hit a superb strike across the keeper to wrap the game up at 3-1. A fantastic all-round team performance moved the Allstars up the table. Man of the match was Steven Husband.

Under-9s Colts 0 Darlington TSC 2

THE weather disruption to training and matches over the last two weeks and perhaps thoughts of their Christmas party in the afternoon left the Colts looking rusty as they picked up only their second league defeat of the season.

TSC went ahead before half-time from a corner and added to their lead midway in the second half when the bounce of the ball favoured the attacking side.

Keeper Tom Siddle was man of the match.

The second game was just as competitive with Allstars taking a deserved 2-0 lead through Kieran Stannard and Jonathan Abbott. TSC got one back but the Colts held out with good passing moves of their own to ensure TSC didn't take all the spoils. Man of the match in the second game was Jonathan Abbott.

Under-8s 0 Billingham 1

BILLINGHAM opened the scoring from a corner. Allstars tried to equalise but couldn't on this occasion. In the following friendly the game finished all square at 1-1 . Man of the match was Luke Fidell.

Under-15s 1 Stockton Town 1

IN a fast and furious start both teams creating chances and it was Stockton who hit the net first. In the second half Allstars kept going and were rewarded with sub Hinchley's clever finish. Man of the match was J.Blewitt.

Bishop Auckland St Marys

ST Marys Under-10s A lost 2-0 at Seaton Carew on Sunday. The Bishops looked a shadow of themselves with pass after pass going astray and Seaton deservedly took the lead when poor defending allowed their player to put them in front.

Just before half-time St Marys managed to create their only chance when Anthony Stout hit a tremendous effort from the edge of the box only to see the Seaton keeper claw it over the bar.

In the second half another slack piece of defending saw St Marys concede again and Seaton ran out deserved winners.

In the second game St Marys lost 3-1, with their only goal scored by Ryan Matthews.

Following a poor set of early season results, the Under-16s reshaped their side for the match against Teesside Athletic. It proved a winning move for coach, Rob Bowron, who saw his team strike the net six times against Teesside Athletic.

First up was St.Mary's new signing, Jamie Duncan, from a 20-yard effort on four minutes. Athletic were straight back in the game with a nifty response 30 seconds from the restart to make it 1-1.

The home side then went 2-1 up on 21 minutes after St.Mary's keeper, Stuart Mounsey, was left defenceless. St.Mary's came straight back to make it 2-2 on 22 minutes with a penalty area lob from Kristian Iceton.

It took 25 minutes of the second half to produce another goal. This time it came from St.Mary's Jon-Paul Glennie to take his side to 3-2. He was followed five minutes later by team-mate, Jamie Duncan who bagged his second of the match and his fourth in two consecutive games.

Luck seemed to run out for the home side when an own goal from a deflection put the visitors 5-2 up. St.Mary's continued to press and it was substitute, Phillip Johnson, who ended the game with a sixth goal seconds from the whistle.

TSC

Under-9s

THE Under-9s were in league action as they travelled the short distance to play the All Stars.

A well-taken corner kick from John Lorimer was met by James Frank to open the TSC scoring, a reward for a fantastic performance throughout the game for James.

Some neat work at the back by Callum Bainbridge consolidated TSC's advantage, which was further enhanced by John Lorimer's solo effort which saw him keep his composure to beat the keeper.

In the second game, TSC conceded two goals very early on and despite playing some very good football, were beaten 2-1.

TSC's goal came from Jamie Wood, who slotted home after a good pass by Callum Webster.

Under-10s

TSC Under-10s travelled to Newton Aycliffe SC and were immediately boosted by a great early individual goal from Sam Theakston which settled the team down well against a competitive Newton Aycliffe team.

After 10 minutes TSC went two ahead after Luke Hewitson cut back in from the left wing and hit in a scorcher from the corner of the penalty box.

In the 23rd minute an excellent cross from Matty Burton was finished off by Luke Hewitson with a crisp left foot shot into the bottom corner of the net.

The friendly saw a new line-up of Jack Proctor, Mark Wilson, Jo Bolton, Ben Murphy, and Andy Walsh being introduced.

The team competed for every ball but unfortunately few clear cut chances were created during the game, which ended goalless.

Under-11s

THE Under-11s, sponsored by CT Steel Site Services, were back in action as they travelled to high-flying Brotton Juniors.

The pattern of the opening period was set almost from the kick off with a long ball sent for the pacy Brotton forward to run on to and strike past Marc Winthrop in the TSC goal.

Another similar goal followed shortly afterwards and as TSC tried to regroup, a quickly taken free-kick was met by the Brotton forward who again finished well to put the home team three goals ahead.

Having taken 20 minutes to settle into the game, TSC were facing a difficult second half with a four goal deficit and clearly second best in all areas.

In a much-improved second half Dean Stacey worked tirelessly up front and won the ball on two occasions which ultimately led to two TSC goals. Will Carr's strong run and precision cross from the right was met by Danny McIntyre who had timed his run well to meet the cross with a glancing header which took the ball past the Brotton keeper.

Danny McIntyre added his second of the game five minutes later as Dean Stacey bravely won the ball from the Brotton defender to set up Danny who finished well with a shot to the far post.

The home side took the few second half chances they had to make the final score line 6-2.

Under-12s

THE Under-12s visited Acklam FC for a league fixture in the knowledge that the home side had yet to drop a point so far this season.

After a goalless first half with 10 minutes of the second half gone TSC took the lead with some good inter play from James Owen allowing Ryan Todd some space in the box who shot over the advancing keeper from 15 yards to give TSC the lead.

Acklam were soon back on level terms as they pressurised the TSC defence and after a period of strong home pressure, a loose ball was converted well by the alert Acklam forward.

With the game going into the last minute Matthew Brown latched onto a loose ball on the edge of the box and he fired over the advancing players to make it 2-1 to TSC.

Under-13s

THE Under-13s, sponsored by Jagtech and Granada Aluminium, were without a game and the Under-15s, sponsored by Render Systems, were also without a fixture.