Coxhoe edge closer to title

The Under-14s travelled to Seaham on Sunday under tremendous pressure but conducted themselves perfectly to gain a three-goal victory and another three points which firmly put them on track to gain some silverware.

Boby Orton's boys head a three-team chase for the Russell Foster Tyne and Wear Youth championship with Chiswick Rovers also in the race, but Coxoe's win at the weekend, courtesy of goals from Michael Owen (2) and Jamie Lawson, puts them firmly in the driving seat.

Orton, extremely proud of his team, said: "We played very well, the lads were absolutely excellent, I'd give ten out of ten to all of them. I took them back to the Red Lion afterwards and spoiled the lot of them....I even spoiled myself a bit as well, I woke up with a hangover!"

The victory was worth celebrating

Opting for a more defensive 4-5-1 formation in the first-half, Coxhoe reached the break 0-0, but a switch to 4-4-2 saw Coxhoe bag their three goals without reply with the first strike coming at the end of one-touch passing move involving six players.

Despite the game's importance Seaham's team contested the game in good spirit and played some good football and with a bit more luck could have taken the lead, but Coxhoe defended resolutely anf their clean sheet - with Tom Orton in goal- was their 12th of the season.

This Sunday Coxhoe are at home to Jarrow Boys Club at Coxhoe Leisure Centre (10.30am).

Thirsk Falcons

Thirsk Under-13s took their 100 per cent League record to 11 games with a 6-0 win at Coulby Newham. Falcons played some rapid attacking football harvesting goals for Robbie Fountain (2), taking his season's tally to 32 league goals, Dion Costick (2), Duncan Padget and Sam Raw.

Man of the match was centre-back Grant Hall who worked hard for a deserved clean sheet.

Brompton Juniors

THE Under-14s travelled to Teesside to play Rangers in the TJA Challenge Cup. In a dour game Brompton's keeper Andrew Wilson produced an excellent save to deny Rangers and Peter Starr hit the post with a glancing header. Very few chances were created and the match went into extra time. Brompton went close to scoring through Lukas Sutton and Danny Thornborough, but it was Rangers who took the lead with a looping shot. John Henry equalised with a shot from the corner flag, to take the tie to penalties. Wilson saved Rangers first shot, Henry, Starr, Thornborough and William Bunn scored for Brompton to win 4-3. John Henry was man of the match.

At Under-9 level Brompton A took on Barnard Castle in a very hard-fought match with both sides giving no quarter. Both sides had chances to score but it was Barny who took the a 1-0 into half time. In the second half Brompton pushed forward and scored through an own goal. Both sides competed hard to find the winning goal but it was Barny who got the lucky break. Brompton's keeper kicked the ball out to a Barny player whilst well wide of his goal and the Barny player hit the ball into the net before the keeper could get back into place.

A very young Brompton B team got off to a good start against Barnard Castle with a well taken short corner from George Austic to Oliver Lowther who rifled the ball past the keeper. Barny equalised shortly after then Brompton got a free kick which Austick converted with a lovely taken left foot shot. Brompton went in deserved winners at half time. The second half saw Barny really start to put pressure on combined with some errors from Brompton resulted in Barny scoring five goals after Brompton's heads started to drop. Austic scored another goal and had another shot roll along the goal line before going out. Barny finished the game playing some good passing football while Brompton had lost heart after such a promising first half.

Richmond Town

There was another great weekend of results for Richmond Town, writes BEN PROSSER.

The Under-15s played away to William Newton in the Teesside Challenge Cup and won 11-0. They were up 2-0 up by half time and put in a very strong performance in the second half as C Cox stole the show by scoring seven goals while the others were scored by P Akers, R Bainbridge, R Crowther and A Weighell. P Murphy gave an excellent defensive display, especially in the first 15 minutes when Richmond were under pressure.

Richmond Under-14s were also away in the Teesside Challenge Cup to Acklam Steelworks and won 4-1. Richmond went down 1-0 in a disappointing first half and were lucky not to go even further behind. Richmond picked up their performance towards the end of the half with D Hillary equalising with his first goal for the club.

This gave Richmond a boost for the second half and early on N Fisher won a penalty which was converted by K Holbrook. Richmond carried on pressing on and C Westgarth scored after a great piece of play and then K Holbrook scored from a free kick.

Richmond Under-13s were away to Seaton Carew and won 9-0. Richmond dominated the early stages and took the lead with a well taken T Stanwix goal. S Pritchard scored a second before T Keegan scored the goal of the match from a 20-yard free kick. Further goals from B Tack (2) and T Stanwix capped an excellent first half performance. Richmond brought on all their substitures at half time and continued to dominate. T Stanwix and B Tack both completed their hat-tricks and S Hawkes scored with a chip to complete the scoring. This was their best performance of the season.

Richmond Under-12s were away to Northallerton and won 2-1, bringing their tally to ten wins in the league. This was a hard fought and at times enthralling match against a determined side. The first half was dominated by Richmond and they deserved to go in half time 1-0 up having taken the lead with a looping header from S Radford. The second half was a much tighter affair with chances at both ends but both keepers had fine matches. Northallerton equalised midway through the second half and despite sustained pressure in the closing stages by Richmond it looked like the match was heading for a draw. However, in injury time a cleverly worked ball on the left by A Kearney was collected on the edge of the penalty area by K Barker who volleyed into the net to earn a well-deserved victory.

Richmond Under-11s were also away to Northallerton and they won 3-0. With both teams in pursuit of Bedale at the top of the table this was a tough game which was played mainly in the middle third of the field with both goalies having little to do. As the game progressed Richmond were starting to get further forward and just before half time went ahead with a goal from G Love. After half time Richmond extended their lead when a goalmouth scramble allowed G Love to score again and he completed his hat-trick when his free kick was only parried into the goal by the keeper. A deserved victory and man of match went to G.Hill.

Richmond Under-10s were also played against Northallerton, this time at home. Team one lost 2-1 but were unlucky not to go into the lead when a penalty from C Garside hit the crossbar. Richmond continued to pressure and took the lead through C Garside but a mixture of good defending and goal keeping from the opposition kept Richmond at bay. Man of match was W Gardner.

Team two lost 3-1. Northallerton built up a 2-0 lead despite good goalkeeping by E Kearney. Richmond played well and were rewarded with a goal from T Stockton, his first of the season. Man of match went to T Stockton.

Richmond Under-9s were away to Darlington Albion and continued to build on last weeks win by winning 3-2. At first they were under pressure from Albion but on the counterattack Richmond had many chances and T Larder put a goal away to take the lead. Then Albion equalised but Richmond kept up the hard work and D Waites put two away. Towards the end of the match Albion scored again but Richmond kept up the good defensive work to keep the score at 3-2.

In match the younger players of the squad played. They lost 6-0 but gained the scoreline doesn't reflect on their performance. Man of match was D Waites.

Norton and

Stockton Ancients

Norton Under-10s continued with some great football and despite heavy pressure from Stockton Rangers, Norton took the lead thanks to a good finish from Ben Turner. James Cass came close to scoring, but it was Arron Steele who scored a hat trick in the second half and Carl Robson scored to make the final score 5-0.

Norton Under-11s returned to their winning ways after last weeks under par performance. Norton were three goals up to Hartlepool Crests after 15 minutes through Johnson, Laverick and goal of the game from Nicholson. Bunn had his best game for Norton on the right of midfield. Hartlepool never gave up, but Inman sealed the points with a late header.

The Under-12s lost 1-0 to Leven in a bottom of the table clash which neither team wanted to lose. It was an evenly matched game with both keepers having little to do but with only seven minutes to go, a superb 25-yard strike by the Leven forward fired straight into the top corner.

The Under-12s played their second bottom of the table clash of the weekend against Marton Hall Drive winning by 7-0. Norton got a corner 5 minutes from half time resulting in a goalmouth scramble with Alex Fraser hitting the crossbar and bouncing over the line for the first goal. Matthew Richardson came on for a man of the match performance with four goals and another two from Mickey Roberts to finish off a good all round team performance.

In a hard fought contest, Norton Under-13s just lost out 2-1 away to Riverside Rovers who scored in the fifth minute with a long range shot into the top corner. Norton took command but could not break down the Rovers defence until the 15th minute. The second half was evenly matched, but with only ten minutes to go, Rovers scored and although Norton pushed forward they could not get the equaliser. Good luck to the Rovers in the next round.

Norton Under-14 A played away to Marton FC who opened the scoring with two quick goals. A great free kick from Ian Magor and a goal from Joe Burns brought Norton back into the game, but Marton scored again to make the final score 3-2.

The Under-14 B team won away to Yarm Town Boys in a hard fought game. Yarm had attacked in the first 20 minutes, a run from the left and a cross shot ended in a goal. Norton fought back when Carl Nugent equalised but Yarm started better in the second half with a second goal. Two late goals from Danny Hughes secured Norton's win.

The Under-15 team enjoyed an 8-2 home cup win over Nunthorpe thanks to an excellent team performance. Two goals by Sean Taylor and one by Tommy Myers gave Norton an early lead before Nunthorpe pulled one back from the penalty spot. Nunthorpe had a good spell in the second half with good saves from Jamie Todd keeping Norton's lead before Steven Rudd went on to get a hat trick and Sean Taylor added another two goals.

Leaders Great Ayton beat Norton Under-17 A 5-1 in the quarter final of the cup. Great Ayton took the lead 1-0 at half-time. A disputed line call lead to Great Ayton made it 2-0. Norton scored a well worked goal by Daniel Crowther before Great Ayton finished with two late goals to progress to the semi-final.

In an evenly fought game, Norton the Under-17 B team lost out to Brompton in the Challenge Cup. Both teams struggled to master a bumpy pitch but Brompton took the lead after 15 minutes with a brilliant individual goal from Brompton's best player Shardha.

Two minutes later, Craggs scored with a great goal. Brompton took command in the second half with a second goal from Shardha and a third from McNichol. Norton struck back again with a tap-in from Oliver. Despite Norton giving their all in the last 20 minutes and several near misses, Brompton held on for a very hard won 3-2 victory.

Norton Under-12 Girls lost 3-1 at home to Stockton West End. Both teams started well, with Stockton West End taking the lead before Norton put Stockton West End under extreme pressure only to see the visitors score again. Norton responded with a goal by Rebecca Saliki but Stockton West End scored a third to win the game.

Two late goals from Katie Louden and a deflection from Andrea Tomkins corner earned the Under-13 Girls a deserved point. Newcastle Girls lead with a fine header and a long range effort that deceived the otherwise immaculate Rachel Jamieson in goal.