How times have changed for Stanley United!

A year ago they languished at the bottom of the table but 12 months on they are mid-table and at the weekend thumped eight goals past Ferryhill Athletic in the Sunderland Shipowners' Cup.

"It has certainly been a rags to riches transformation. We were at the basement almost throughout the last campaign and only escaped the wooden spoon in the last couple of weeks," said manager Vince Kirkup.

The Hill Top side were determined to improve and have signed five players, who have all made a big impression.

Goalkeeper Chris Sawyer returned from Willington and another former player, Aaron Scott switched from Easington CW. He is the side's leading scorer.

Shaun Mansfield, formerly with Lumley Juniors, is another newcomer while Joncharles Gott, who missed most of last season, is now a regular in the team.

"If you add up their contributions and that of captain Alan Humble, who has been in top form, together with the determination and loyalty of the players we had last season, then you can gauge why we have come so far," declared Kirkup, who is in his 26th season as manager.

Stanley reserved their best performance of the season for last week when they romped home in the Sunderland Shipowners' Cup. The tie was all over after just 14 minutes by which time Stanley were three goals up and they eventually ran out 8-0 winners to chalk up the biggest win of the day.

"The result took our unbeaten sequence to five matches, four of which we won and that is as good as we have achieved in the last four seasons. We still have a long way to go before we can challenge sides like Birtley Town, who I think will take some beating for the title, but we are the most improved side this year and we aim to build on our achievements," enthused Kirkup.

North Shields, who won the championship last season, have had their ups and downs but secretary David Thompson is confident the tide has turned.

"We were shocked by the eve-of-season resignation of manager Terry Paddison and Eddie Freeman and Ken Charlton left after only a few weeks. We turned to stalwart Wilf Keilty and gradually he has improved results," declared Thompson.

The Robins are now unbeaten in seven consecutive league games and when Windscale scored in Saturday's fixture, it was the first goal North Shields had conceded in 540 minutes.

"We have won five and drawn two of our last seven games and have moved up from 13th to sixth in the table. Our last defeat in the league was to Wolviston on September 7 so we have got to be delighted with the progress we had made under Wilf," enthused Thompson.