Appleby keen on promotions

In an interview in the Northern League's magazine Northern Ventures Northern Gains, Appleby discusses the proposed restructuring of level three of the pyramid, at which the Northern League plays, particularly the idea of a Tweed to Humber League

"I'm a great believer in a "North Eastern League" but there must be willingness among clubs to move.

"If a club had moved up from the Northern League each season in the past, the Northern Premier League would now have a core of former Northern League clubs thereby moving the boundary east and reducing travelling. Each season that a club fails to move makes the situation worse.

"Clubs relegated from the NPL may also have resulted in some clubs being transferred from the Northern Counties East League to the Northern League, maybe a Tweed to Humber League achieved by natural movement."

And after being posed the question; "Is any of this going to get the crowds back at our level?" Appleby said: "You imply that what you have at the moment is failing. If that's the case, try something different and that's where the restructure can play a part. Burying heads in the sand won't bring the crowds back."

But Northern League chairman Mike Amos countered: "I attended a meeting earlier in the week, at which the restructure was discussed. We've been accused of burying our heads in the sand, but we want to build a reasonable bridge.

"There are sound financial reasons why clubs don't want to move upwards. They have seen the financial problems which have occurred at Bishop Auckland and Spennymoor, amongst others. It is the economics of the madhouse to travel to the Midlands every other week. The Northern League is becoming more and more isolated."

Appleby is due to speak to Northern League clubs at an EGM on January 15.

Billingham Synthonia will travel to the winners of the replay between Congleton and Buxton in the fourth round of the Vase on January 17. The teams drew 0-0 in their delayed third round tie on Tuesday, and are due to replay early next week.

And manager Stuart Coleby warned: "I don't think we've played at our best yet in the Vase."

Billingham Town, meanwhile, will have home advantage against Bideford from the Screwfix Direct Western League. Bideford, from Devon, are unbeaten in 15 league matches, and last Saturday thumped Withdean 6-0 in the third round.

Town manager Alan Robinson said: "Hopefully, we'll have signed a couple of players before the game. Our squad is a little thin for Vase games, because two players, Sean Howes and Paul Coleby, have already played for other clubs in it."

West Auckland have been given financial backing from the FA for a new tannoy system at Darlington Road.

General manager Stuart Alderson said: "There's three speakers on each floodlight pylon. It's so loud, that they'll hear us in Crook!"

Willington manager Alan Shoulder says Gary Ankers scored a special goal in the 3-2 win at Shotton last Saturday.

"It was one of the best goals I've ever seen. He nearly broke the net from the edge of the box, because he just caught it right."

Tow Law have appealed against the two week suspension handed out to Carl Beasley in the recent game against Penrith for allegedly using foul and abusive language. Tow Law claim that the player was provoked after being spat at by a Penrith player.

Meanwhile, Tow Law boss Steve Smith has signed Irish striker Jimmy Farrell from Washington Nissan.

Brandon manager Kenny Lindoe had to register himself as a player in time for his team's game against Tow Law last week, but fortunately the match was postponed because of the weather.

The game had already been postponed once, but on the re-arranged date Brandon were without several players because of other commitments.

Lindoe, a centre half in his playing career, signed forms the day before and said: "My son, Barry, was already going on the bench, and I tried to persuade my other son, Kevin, to sit on the bench as well, but he was at work. I was desperate to find somebody to put in front of me. I was relieved when the match was postponed."

Bedlington have had three points deducted by the league for fielding an ineligible player against Guisborough last month.

The player, Andy Watson, has been playing regularly for their reserve team and last season was a playing substitute on several occasions before February 1. He was also on the bench after this date, but didn't come on the field, and therefore wasn't automatically registered by the league.

The club apparently failed to notice this, and when he played five minutes as a sub against Guisborough last month, he was therefore ineligible.

Joint manager Tony Lowery said: "We thought he was registered because he had been a regular on the subs bench. The deduction is going to make it even more difficult to win the league, but there's still a long way to go yet."

Bedlington's defeat at home to Dunston last week was the third time they'd lost to them this season in league and league cup.

Former West Auckland manager David Hall who was at Shotton until a fortnight ago, says he didn't resign as assistant manager when Stan Cummins quit.

Hall said: "Stan told me that he had resigned, but nobody from the club contacted me to ask me about my intentions. I didn't know what was going on, so I didn't turn up for the Saturday game in case I caused embarrassment if somebody else was running the team. It was the club who announced that I had resigned."

Shotton have appointed former Crook manager Vince Kirkup as their new boss.

New chairman Brian Maxwell said: "Vince has a daunting task, and not much time to do it in. But he seems as though he wants the challenge."

Shildon manager Ray Gowan was unhappy with the referee and his team's finishing after their 1-0 defeat at Oadby last Saturday.

Just like Durham, Shildon had high hopes of a good run - especially after their FA Cup run - and Gowan said: "At times, I thought it was 12 against 11 because the referee gave some disgraceful decisions against us. But having said that, we created loads of chances, and if you don't take them, you don't deserve to win."

Seaham Red Star have put striker John Harrison on to the transfer list at his own request. Harrison has scored five times this season.

Meanwhile, Star have signed much travelled striker Paul Rowntree from Thornaby. Rowntree, who has been a prolific scorer in the league, has played for several Northern League clubs, and made his debut last Saturday against Prudhoe.

Washington Nissan manager Wilf Constantine was relieved with his team's 1-0 win over fellow promotion contenders Benfield Saints last Saturday.

"We stopped the rot from the last three weeks," he said.

"We needed the win to keep us right up there with the others, and it will certainly boost our confidence. If we can win our next three or four games, then we could be looking good for third place."

Northallerton manager Paul Burton believes last Saturday's opponents, Ashington, were the best team they'd played this season.

"I thought that they were very strong and well-organised," said Burton after the 2-2 draw. "They're certainly good enough to finish in the top two.

"It says something that we picked up a point against them. Against the leading teams in this division, we seem to do well, it's just those lower down we have problems with."

Crook manager Alan Oliver has ordered more training sessions for his players.

Oliver has been in charge for three matches, and has seen his team concede a two goal lead twice, against Northallerton and Alnwick. He said: "The level of fitness of some players needs to be improved."

Crook led 2-0 at Alnwick last Saturday, and conceded three goals in the second-half.

Meanwhile, Oliver has signed defender Simon Rogers, who was with him at West Auckland.

Norton manager Ray Morton believes his team can continue to climb the Second Division table. After looking certainties for relegation following a bad start, Norton have lost just once in seven matches, and last Saturday had a creditable 2-2 draw at South Shields.

Morton said: "We're a couple of games behind everybody else, and if we can pick up a few points, then we can move up the table quickly. We've got plenty of confidence at the moment."

Morton is also pleased with young midfielder Jamie Dawson. "He's only 16 and did a sterling job last Saturday."

Willington manager Alan Shoulder has been informed by Durham FA that he will probably have to appear in front of them to discuss the abandonment of Willington's game at Newcastle Benfield Saints three months ago.

Shoulder has already his dismissal from the dugout in the same game by the referee rescinded, and because he refused to move from his position later in the game, the referee abandoned the match. However, Shoulder has always claimed that he hadn't been sent off, and that will be part of his defence.

The Northern League has awarded £200 to Chester-le-Street's youth team towards their expenses for the FA youth Cup tie at West Ham in January.

The match at Upton Park is in the fourth round, the furthest any team from the Northern League has reached.

Evenwood have failed in an attempt to claim expenses for their postponed game against Whickham last month. The match was postponed by the referee because of fog less than 20 minutes before kick off, leaving Evenwood with an expenses bill of around £100, as the match officials had come from Cumberland and Newcastle.

The league has ruled that last month's abandoned game between Bedlington and Chester-le-Street, which was halted because of floodlight failure with Bedlington leading 4-0, must also be replayed.

Another abandoned game because of floodlight failure, between South Shields and Evenwood, must also be replayed.

The latest performance of the week awards are: 15th November; Norton for their 4-0 win at Crook, 22nd November; Guisborough for their 1-0 win at Bedlington, 29th November; Thornaby for their 4-3 win at Jarrow Roofing, 5th December; Washington for their 3-2 home win over Whitley Bay.

The league has clamped down on clubs who submit incomplete team sheets by failing to award a mark to the referee. Seven clubs have been fined, with two clubs offending twice. They are Bedlington (2), Durham (2), Billingham Town, Crook, Esh Winning, Horden and Marske.

Second Division clubs hoping for promotion have been told that their grounds will be inspected on April 1 next year, and if their grounds aren't up to standard on that inspection, then they won't be promoted regardless of their league position.

The league has also ruled that any second division clubs who haven't carried out any work asked of them last summer, risk being kicked out of the league.

Durham manager Billy Cruddas admitted he was "devastated" after his team lost 2-1 at Leamington in front of a 700 crowd on Saturday.

City fancied their chances of a good run in the competition, and Cruddas said: "We were hopeless, and too many players had an off day. We didn't have any real quality, so to lose to a team below us in the pyramid structure was a big blow.

"It was the worst I'd felt as a manager since we lost to Emley in the quarter final 15 years ago. If any of the two Billinghams play them later in the competition, then they should win."

TOMORROW'S FIXTURES: Division One: Billingham Town v Guisborough, Chester-le-Street v Tow Law, Dunston v Penrith, Esh Winning v Brandon, Horden v Jarrow Roofing, Marske v Whitby, Morpeth v Shildon, Thornaby v Bedlington, Washington v Billingahm Synthonia, West Auckland v Peterlee.

Division Two: Ashington v Shotton, Consett v Alnwick, Easington v Hebburn, Evenwood v Northallerton, Kennek Ryhope CA v Washington, Newcastle Benfield Saints v Seaham Red Star, Norton v Newcastle Blue Star, Whickham v Murton, Willington v Crook Town.