In the Premier the champions Billingham Wanderers drew 1-1 away to Lord Seaham.

It was a very closely fought match in which scoring chances were very few and Lord Seaham's defence played well under pressure. the first half ended goalless but after the restart Keith Corner scored to break the deadlock and put Billingham 1-0 up. A win looked certain for the visitors but a last minute free kick to the Lord Seaham took a wicked deflection into the net to make it 1-1.

Owton Manor won 2-1 at home to Seaton Delaval and move into second place. Steels SC stay top, they drew 0-0 at home to the unbeaten side Killingworth Arms. The Masons Arms turned in a much improved effort and were unfortunately to lost 1-0 at home to Ferryhill Greyhound. A draw would have been a fair result for the Masons.

In Division One Langley Park Rams Head recorded their fourth consecutive league win, they defeated Wardley Green 2-0 at home and are now in fifth place. The first half ended 0-0 with neither side looking like scoring.

The restart saw the Rams slowly getting the upper hand and it was no surprise when Tommy Buxton scored to put them 1-0 in the lead.

Then Alan Forster cleverly beast his man and passed to sup sub Robb Corbett who drilled the ball into the top right corner of the net to settle the issue 2-0. Centre back Kevin Williams had an outstanding fame in defence for the Rams.

Darlington Croft lost 2-1 away to Wearmouth CW in a game which came to life after the interval. The first half was a rather tame affair Darlington took the lead and put pressure on Wearmouth who then brought on two subs, this move altered the game as Wearmouth quickly levelled through Bobby Kirby and shortly afterwards Ian Rutherford scored to put the home side 2-1 in the lead.

Hero of the game was Wearmouth's keeper Colin Coulson who when Darlington took over after the restart and in the closing minutes, pulled off a series of excellent saves and deny the visitors any chance of scoring.

Newton Aycliffe came back to form winning 5-2 away to the Willow Road.

They had a spectacular opening of 20 minutes in which they scored four goals. After ten minutes Dave McDonald who had a fantastic game scored his first goal for two years to give Aycliffe the lead. Geoff Peaden made it 2-0 with a cross-cum shot which deceived the keeper. Derek Turnbull made it 3-0 and Colin Smith made it 4-0 interval lead scoring with a spot kick. After the restart Tony Jinks made it 5-0 but in the closing minutes a faulty back pass let the Pond pull one back and then another while the defence were arguing who was at fault. A good win for Aycliffe.

In Division Two Consett dropped three valuable points by losing 3-2 at home to Boldon and are now in fifth place.

In Division Three Billingham Town won 3-0 away to Roker Queen Vic, they stay on top spot one point clear of their nearest rivals.

Wynyard Veterans kept up their challenge, they won 4-0 at home to Durham C Strollers. Wynyard always had the edge they led 3-0 at the interval.

The restart saw the Vets still in command but to their credit the Strollers never gave up and contained the Vets attacks limiting them to only one further goal and forced them never to relax. Goal scorers were Serplus a brace and Robson and Mo Naylor one apiece. Hero of the match was the Strollers' keeper Coulson who was outstanding all the game.

West Cornforth who are now in fifth spot, showed how good a side they are by defeating Hartlepool RNC 9-3 at home.

Pool were hard pressed to cope with Cornforth's all out attacks but never gave up, they scored three goals in reply and also gave away two own goals. Scorers were Arthur Rowe (4), James Hudson a brace and Geoffrey Stephenson for Cornforth.

Darlington Railway did well as they won 2-1 at home to Steels FC to move out of the bottom three. they took the lead after seven minutes courtesy of Dale Elton and after the restart went 2-0 up through Eric Northey before Steels pulled one back late on. Barry Fawcett turned in an excellent performance for the Railway.

In Division Four Wynyard OB lost 5-0 at home to the league leaders Oddies. For the first 20 minutes the Old Boys were the better side but the disparity in the ages of the two teams began to show and after the restart the Old Boys tired and having no subs they only had 11 players, Oddies took control and in the end finished 5-0 winners.

The Old Boys play for enjoyment and to keep fit and a draw or a win is an added bonus. It is teams like the old boys who keep the overs 40 going.