Durham Victoria Bridge went down 3-0 at home to Shildon Railway. Slack marking in defence allowed Daren Askew to open the scoring. Another easy chance came Kevin Hamilton's way when he was left unmarked to easily push the ball past the keeper. Douglas Grant hit number three with a free header.

Whitehill FC moved four points clear courtesy of a 4-0 win against Seaham Mallard. Stephen Roughly latched on to a through ball from Michael Pitt to side foot the first goal, and Pitt got number two. Then Gary Robson hit the third before Pitt hit his second.

Coxhoe Athletic, still potential league winners, had a fine 3-2 win against a strong Sporting Club Sunderland outfit. They were behind when Neil Middlemiss put Sporting in front but five minutes later they were lucky to be level. A cross from Scott Richards was misjudged by Gary Davison in goal for Sporting allowing the ball into the net. Lee Butler had Sporting ahead again after an hour with a header from close quarters. A break came for Coxhoe when Dean Smithson headed home the equaliser. Barry O'Hara saved the result for Coxhoe.

Belford House shared the spoils with Spennymoor Black & Decker in a 2-2 draw. Black & Decker got a lucky break on 30 minutes. Peter Robson received a back pass from a Belford defender before sending the ball home. Michael Conner levelled, winning the ball in the middle of the field, he beat two defenders and the keeper. Belford led when Michael Agnew headed in after 70 minutes. That was cancelled out when Lee Thistlewaite headed in at the back post for Black & Decker five minutes later.

Brandon Station won their Clem Smith Bowl semi-final tie 4-1 against Seaham The Duke, with goals scored by David Ford, Dave Dickinson, Paul Webster and Paul Elliott. Scott Burns replied.

In the other semi Hartlepool Town out-played Simonside SC for a 4-1 win. Chris Birkbeck the destroyer with all four goals. Simonside had led when Michael Ord headed in at the far post.

P W D L F A Pts

Whitehill FC 21 14 3 4 72 32 45

Hartlepool Town 21 13 2 6 71 30 41

Coxhoe Athletic 16 13 1 2 46 19 40

Black & Decker 18 11 4 3 59 27 37

Belford House FC 19 11 3 5 50 37 36

Shildon Railway FC 18 11 1 6 50 40 34

Cockfield FC 17 9 4 4 45 24 31

Sporting Club S'land 17 9 3 5 52 27 30

Seaham The Duke FC 19 9 1 9 45 40 28

Brandon Station 11 7 2 2 41 9 23

Seaham Mallard 18 4 2 12 38 68 14

Simonside SC 20 4 0 16 39 83 12

Birtley Town Res. 21 3 2 16 34 79 11

Durham Victoria Bridge 21 3 1 17 26 74 10

*Ebchester FC 19 2 1 16 26 105 4