This week has seen most teams play twice as the group stage of the First & Second Division Cups got underway last Thursday, along with a full league programme in Division Three.

In the Darlington & Stockton Times First Division Cup the big winners of the week were Newton Aycliffe Sports Club who virtually guaranteed their place in the second round with an 8-1 victory over Shuttle & Loom. Elsewhere, Northern Echo also picked up three points in their opening group game as they defeated Newton Aycliffe Iron Horse 3-2 whilst Brinkburn and Hurworth Albion played out a 1-1 draw.

Also playing out a 1-1 draw were East End WMC and Spraire RA. East End took a deserved lead midway through the first half thanks to a Neil Jackson penalty, but last season's beaten finalists were good value for their equaliser through new signing Richard Tutty as both sides picked up a well deserved point.

In the Darlington Motor Factors Division Two Cup Sadberge DL got off to a flying start as they hammered newly promoted Royal British Legion 8-2 thanks to goals from Aaron Lowery (4) and Michael Hillary, Paul Wilkinson and Andrew Bell. An own goal also went the way of Sadberge whilst Jimmy McCabe and Trevor Cooke notched for the Legion.

Meanwhile, a brace for Stuart Bell and one apiece for David Pattison and Paul Spinks gave Yates Wine Lodge a 4-2 victory over Copper Beech, whose goals came from Darren Johnson and Kevin Myers.

In the only remaining cup tie, the Killinghall ran out 3-1 victors in a hard-fought game against Canney Hill. Killy took the lead in the opening ten minutes as Stu Hardy rounded the keeper after ghosting by two Canney Hill defenders, and they went in with a deserved 2-0 lead at the break as Michael Smith turned neatly on the edge of the box before curling the ball into the Canney Hill net.

Both teams started the second half strongly as the rain made conditions much more testing, and Canney Hill eventually gave themselves a shot of taking something from the game as Richard Elliott got a goal back in the final ten minutes with a 35-yard thunderbolt. However, as Canney Hill pressed for an equaliser the Killy hit them on the break and Daniel Fleary notched a deserved goal as he lobbed the Canney Hill keeper to seal the victory for the home side.

In the league games taking place in Division Three, the Hope Inn retained their 100 per cent record as they beat Cricketers 6-2 thanks to goals from Hewitt (4), Hubble and Chadwick. Chris Piper and Scott Mark notched the Cricketers goals. Meanwhile, FR Aviation beat Drinkfield United side 3-0 and AFC Aruba picked up their first three points in the Invitation league thanks to a 4-0 victory over fellow new-boys Sherwoods. Man of the match Stuart Pigg notched one of the Aruba goals whilst Holt, Gardner and Merritt also got on the scoresheet.

In the remaining league games a Dave Tuschick brace wasn't enough to gain Royal Oak their first three points of the season as they were twice pegged back by goals from Ian Wake and Liam Coleman as they played out a 2-2 draw.

Haughton BAT and AXA Insurance also played out a hard fought 2-2 draw.

Barry Foster gave AXA an early lead, but John Griffiths battled through the away side's defence to snatch a deserved equaliser for Haughton. AXA maintained their pressure however, and a brilliant half-volley from Alan Percival looked to have sown up the points before Haughton once more pegged them back - this time with a close range strike from substitute Ray Morrison.

In the only remaining game of the evening, Emcor picked up their first point of the season in their game against The Falchion. Emcor took the lead midway through the first half when Nigel Todd capitalised on confusion in the Falchion defence to scramble the ball home. It was a lead that Emcor held onto for a long period of a very scrappy encounter, but in the latter stages The Falchion finally got an equaliser as captain Gary Tibbet capped a great run down the left with a fantastic pass to Mike Leyton who fired an equaliser from the tightest of angles to make the final score 1-1.

Sunday saw all divisions returning to league action and Spraire RA continued their flying start as they beat Newton Aycliffe Iron Horse 12-0. Newton Aycliffe Sports Club are also off to a flyer, and goals from James Miller (3), Carl Black (3), John Shotton (2), Chris Postle and Craig Barrigan saw them cruise past Northern Echo 10-0 on Sunday.

Another team that have started well are Coundon Forresters, but they were given a shock on Sunday as James Edwards gave newly-promoted Hurworth Albion a 1-0 lead within ten minutes of their game against the champions. However, the Foresters upped their game and grabbed an equaliser through Kevin Bromley ten minutes later, and the 1-1 scoreline was carried into the break, thanks in the main to some fine goalkeeping by both keepers.

The second half continued where the first had left off with both teams creating some fine chances, but in the last 15 minutes the Foresters superior fitness began to tell and the Albion defence finally cracked as Darren Wilson ran straight through them before slotting the ball into the path of Rob Mazur who gave the Foresters a 2-1 victory.

In the other Division One games Nestfield Club maintained their 100 per cent record with a 1-0 victory over East End WMC and Bishop Auckland Cricket Club picked up their first points of the season with a 5-4 victory over the Brinkburn.

Shuttle & Loom also picked up their first victory of the season as they defeated Central WMC 3-1.

In Division Two, the Grey Horse maintained their 100 per cent record with a 5-2 victory over Sadberge DL, and Allstars have also won two out of two after their game against Bishop Auckland Derby on Sunday. Allstars had a great start to the game as Franklin and Kokes combined to set up Danny Hanafin who shot the home side into a 1-0 lead within the opening five minutes. The Derby were shell-shocked from that early blow and their efforts to get back into the game were rebuffed by a strong Allstars defensive display before Kokes doubled the lead just before half time as his shot from the tightest of angles trickled into the Derby net.

The second half saw much of the same as Tutty and Stacey dominated in the Allstars midfield as they notched a further two goals through Kokes and a Derby defender to take a well-earned 4-0 victory.

In the remaining games Killinghall Arms ran out as convincing 7-0 victors over Yates Wine Lodge whilst AFC Orange defeated Green Dragon 2-0 despite being reduced to ten men. However, it was the Dragon that dominated the first half, and they should have taken the lead as early as the 15th minute as Steve Hague's header came back off the Orange bar.

A combination of an awful Orange tackle and dissent then saw the visitors reduced to nine men before half time, and the second half continued in much the same way with The Dragon applying all the pressure.

However, an Orange break saw Chris Wardell squeeze the ball past the Dragon 'keeper at the near post as the visitors took a 1-0 lead completely against the run of play. The Dragon pushed everyone forward in search of an equaliser, but the Orange defensive line held firm before a stupid error in the Dragon defence saw Ali French slot in a second for Orange in the final ten minutes to wrap the points up for the visitors.

In Division Three a gutsy performance from Emcor set up a great match with league favourites Pepper Draughting Services. Both sides shared the early chances with the defences starting the game on top. However, midway through the first half it was Emcor who took the lead as Gary Brown coolly slotted the ball past the PDS keeper. The lead turned out to be short-lived though, as a good cross left Michael Carter with the simple task of heading the sides level.

However, it was Emcor that might have taken the lead into the break had lady luck been on their side, but they were unable to capitalise on some good football. The second half started in much the same way, but Emcor were left to rue their missed opportunities as Gary Williamson and Richard Harrison both notched for PDS within ten minutes. Emcor's Alan Tweddle missed a golden opportunity to bring the home side back into the game soon afterwards however, as he lifted his penalty over the bar before Lee Hammond rounded off the scoring for PDS to secure a 4-1 victory.

Elsewhere, Hope Inn continued their winning run with a 7-0 victory over Sherwoods thanks to hat-tricks from David Hubble and Scott Mitchell followed an opening goal from Duncan Maitland.

Meanwhile, an injury hit Newton Cap were ravaged 8-0 by Haughton BAT thanks to goals from Paul Legg (4), Jason Griffiths (2), Stuart Ridley and Paul Cooper.

The Falchion were also big winners after they beat Smith & Allan 14-1 whilst Cricketers picked up their first points of the season following a 2-1 victory over AFC Aruba.

Middleton St George Cricket Club capitalised on their opening day victory as they drew 1-1 with AXA Insurance. Kieran Thompson and Jason Whale in the centre of the Cricket Club's midfield ran the game for the home side and forced AXA to soak up a lot of pressure. However, a quick break lead to a Dave Aiken goal for AXA that gave them a lead against the run of play.

The remainder of the game then followed the same script as the Cricket Club laid siege to the AXA goal mouth, and eventually they were rewarded as Mark Brishuk's goal in the final ten minutes earned them a share of the spoils.

Drinkfield United and Royal Oak were also made to share the points as both teams played out a very even game at Abbey Road. The Oak dominated the early possession but were forced to pay for a series of errors at the back as Aaron Radstock capitalised on a glorious one-on-one with Oak keeper Paul Robinson to give the home side a 1-0 lead at the break. The Oak continued to dominate possession in the second half and Dave Tuschick finally brought the scores level after 70 minutes with a fine strike from the edge of the area.

However, the Oak defence was once more caught out as Matty Pearson regained the lead for Drinkfield, and they were almost caught out again as Tuschick was forced to make a dramatic goal line clearance. The Oak kept plugging away, however, and finally gained their reward as the Drinkfield off-side trap was sprung by Neil Jollie who latched onto a long ball just inside the Drinkfield half before moving in on goal and slotting past the keeper to make the final score 2-2.

In the only remaining game of the day Paul Freary's fine free-kick gave FR Aviation a 1-0 half time lead over Pizza Perfekt. However, the Pizzaboyz enjoyed more possession in the second half and soon got back onto level terms thanks to an equally well struck free kick from Carl Batty. Mark Wardell then notched what appeared to be the winner for the Pizzaboyz after a spell of sustained pressure, but the Aviator's pushed men forward in search of a late equaliser and were richly rewarded when substitute Tom Moore set up Steve Thompson for a deserved equaliser.