It was business as usual in Division One as the top three all picked up maximum points.

League leaders Coundon Foresters remain the team to beat following their 9-1 victory over struggling Bishop Auckland Cricket Club, but East End WMC kept up their impressive run of form to stay in second place. Goals from Neil Jackson and Jason Jackson gave the Eastenders a 2-0 victory over fifth-placed Hurworth Albion.

Elsewhere, a John Shotton hat trick gave third placed Newton Aycliffe Sports Club a 3-0 victory over relegation threatened Brinkburn. However, the game was much more even than the scoreline suggests, and if Steve Appleby had had a more composed head on his shoulders the Brinkburn could very well have been 2-1 up at half time. However, the second half saw the Sports Club pick off the Brinkburn with some fine counter attacking football as the hosts pushed all out for the vital yet unattainable three points to aid their push for safety.

In the remaining third division games, Spraire RA picked up an impressive 7-3 victory against Shuttle & Loom as they continue their drive up the table, whilst the game between struggling sides Northern Echo and Central Club finished all-square. The Echo were in front within the opening ten minutes thanks to a Gary Pallas goal, although Central came back to lead 3-1 just before the interval. However, a 25 yard free kick from Craig Maddison give the Echo a sniff of the points right on half time, and within minutes of the re-start John Neilson levelled the scores at 3-3. With chances at both ends more goals seemed inevitable, but despite the Echo having to soak up pressure for long periods, the game finished at 3-3 - a result that leaves the Echo still rooted to the bottom of the table.

In Division Two, leaders All Stars picked up a 3-1 away victory over struggling Canney Hill, whilst second placed Killinghall Arms continue to sweep aside all before them as they beat Bishop Auckland Derby 4-2. A Danny Fleary volley opened the scoring after 20 minutes, and ten minutes later he made the score 2-0 with a fine header. However, the Derby got themselves back in the game as Tom Borrows converted a hotly disputed penalty just before the break. Killinghall shuffled their pack at the break as Mike Smith entered the fray for the hosts, and with his first touch of the ball he soon reinstated the Killy's two-goal advantage.

Chris Jordan's clever strike soon after all but sealed the points for the Killy, although Derby substitute Kevin McCormick notched late on to make the final score 4-2.

Third placed AFC Orange also picked up maximum points as they beat Green Dragon 4-0 to bring the Dragon's good run of form to an end. Martin Allinson's early penalty set Orange on their way, and it was soon 2-0 as Mark Finn also found the net from a spot kick. Matt Porteus made the score 3-0 with a well-taken second-half goal before Finn wrapped up the points with his second of the game.

Elsewhere, the game between Jack Horners and Royal British Legion finished 2-0 to the Jacks whilst Copper Beech DCS defeated bottom side Sadberge 4-0 thanks to a Darren Riley hat trick and a goal from Alan Gowling.

In Division Three, Peppers Draughting Services rattled up double figures for the umpteenth time this season. Haughton BAT were their victims on this occasion, although Haughton did manage to keep the score at 0-0 for the opening ten minutes despite several of their team suffering from celebrating one of their numbers engagement the night before. PDS were in no mood to show their hosts any charity though, and Gary Williamson notched the first of his three goals soon after the ten-minute mark. Haughton briefly threatened to make a game of it as Karl Lockwood notched his 15th of the season from the penalty spot, but PDS soon put paid to any chance of a close game as they notched six goals in quick succession to make it 7-1 at the break. A further six goals in the second half saw a Mark Stephenson inspired PDS finish 13-1 victors, remarkably with five of the PDS goals coming from penalties.

Stephenson top-scored with four to add to Williamson's three, while Mick Boddy (2), Martin Webster, Lee Hammond, Jamie Bowman and Michael Jones all got on the scoresheet.

Second-placed Hope Inn also made double figures at the weekend as they beat Pizza Perfekt 10-2. Elsewhere, third placed FR Aviation remain 14 points clear of the chasing pack thanks to a 3-1 victory over The Cricketers. Richy Bestford, Paul Freary and Ste Thompson notched for the Aviators whilst Kevin Howlett struck the Cricketers goal.

Drinkfield United and Middleton St George Cricket Club have now moved into the fourth and fifth promotion spots as they took advantage of Pizza Perfekt's defeat to leapfrog them in the table. Drinkfield played out a hard fought victory over AFC Aruba, and, despite falling behind to an early goal, they ran out 2-1 victors thanks to goals from Carl Batty and man of the match John Bicknell.

Meanwhile, Middleton St George made light work of The Falchion, taking an early lead thanks to a fine close range strike from Mike Lyons. The Falchion were never allowed to get into their rhythm as MSG went onto control the game, although their second goal, which came just before the break, did have an air of good fortune about it as Alex Minto had the simple task of tapping the ball into an empty net following a mix-up in the Falchion defence. Middleton St George keeper, James Briggs, made the score 3-0 in the second half as he converted a spot-kick that was awarded for a foul on substitute Mark Evans, before Evans himself wrapped the tie up as he dispatched another penalty to make the score 4-0.

Elsewhere, Newton Cap won the battle of the bottom two as they defeated Smith & Allan to continue their recent up-turn in form. The Cap opened the scoring early in the first half as Anthony Ross slotted the ball home following a fine through ball from Shaun Hunter, but they were soon pegged back as Mike Black volleyed the ball home from a corner kick to make the score 1-1. Shaun Bell notched a rare goal to put the hosts back in control though when a Cap corner wasn't properly cleared, and Shaun Hunter, Mark Ross, Paul Fox and Neil Pannika also got themselves on the scoresheet to put the Cap 6-1 up at the break. The second half saw Smith & Allan play some lovely football but they couldn't beat Tyrone Moore who was in inspired form in the Cap goal, and they were unfortunate to go further behind as Mark Ross notched his second and Anthony Ross completed his hat trick with two strikes in quick succession, to make the final score 9-1 to Newton Cap.

Meanwhile, Royal Oak produced a fine second half display to defeat Sherwoods 4-3 after they trailed 3-1 at the interval. It was the Oak that were quickest out of the blocks, however, as Dave Tuschick slotted to ball in the bottom corner in the opening two minutes to put the visitors 1-0 up.

However, within 60 seconds Peter Taylor had levelled matters up after he ran onto the ball from a suspiciously offside position before confidently beating Preston Slade in the Oak goal. Sherwoods then took control as Roy Applegarth and Gary Barker took advantage of some slack marking as they both found the back of the net. The second half saw the Oak take the bull by the horns though, and Matt Snowdon scored a debut goal as he ran on to a fine Neil Jollie through-ball before firing past the on-rushing keeper. Jollie then levelled the game up as he picked up a Carl Mansfield pass in the box before rifling the ball into the bottom corner, before Snowdon completed the comeback and a dream debut as he ran 30 yards past several Sherwoods defenders before slotting the ball home.

In the only other game of the day, Emcor ran out 2-1 victors in their mid-table clash with AXA Insurance. Emcor are making a habit of scoring early goals, and this week was no exception as Darren Scott's wonderful left foot volley put them into an early lead. Emcor proceeded to play some excellent football but with no reward, as AXA 'keeper Luke Stott produced a Tomashevski-like performance to keep the score at 1-0 at the break.

The break seemed to allow AXA time to regroup, and they came into the game much more in the second period, but it was Emcor that found the back of the net again as Stu Fawcett coolly beat Stott from the penalty spot following a rash challenge on Aiden Tate. As the game neared the end, AXA rallied and managed to get a goal back as Dave Aiken struck a volley that invoked memories of Marco Van Basten's wonder goal as it swerved into the top corner, but unfortunately it wasn't enough as Emcor ran out 2-1 victors.

l The league committee would like to remind all secretaries that this month's meeting will take place on Wednesday night at 7pm at Darlington RA. All secretaries please remember to bring along the usual monthly meeting fee