FOOTBALL : Spraire take over at top

In Division One Spraire RA returned to the top of the league as they beat bottom side Green Dragon 18-0 thanks to goals from Graham Dodsworth (5), Adam Hughes (4), Chris Falconer (3), Martin Ward (2), Richie Hindle, Danny Richmond, Mark Brooks and

Steve Shaw. That result was the perfect way to take advantage of a slip-up by former leaders Nestfield Club, who were beaten 5-3 by an East End WMC side that have

produced some erratic performances over recent weeks.

Current champions Coundon Forresters still remain one of Spraire's biggest rivals however, as they sit ten points behind the leaders with three games in hand after they

defeated Brinkburn 6-0 on Sunday. Coundon were on top right from the off, and it was no surprise when Curt Warburton gave the Forresters the lead as he curled a superb

free-kick beyond keeper Darren Peacock and into the Brinkburn net. Rob Mazur then got on the score sheet as he completed a mazy dribble by rounding Peacock to make the score 2-0. Warburton notched his second straight from a corner to make the score 3-0

before Mazur followed suit by notching his second to give Coundon a 4-0 half time lead.

Coundon eased the pace in the second half, but it still remained all one-way traffic as Mazur completed his hat-trick before Steven Butler chipped the Brinkburn keeper from

well outside the box to complete the 6-0 rout.

Elsewhere the Speedwell beat The Northern Echo 4-3 to move above their opponents in the league whilst Newton Aycliffe Sports Club eased past struggling Springfield 6-0. Jason Wing top-scored with three of the Aycliffe goals whilst Chris

Postle, Paul Stout and John Shotton also got on the score sheet for an Aycliffe side that could leap from fifth to top if they can win their four games in hand on leaders Spraire.

In the big relegation battle of the day Hoppers Transport gained a valuable three points against Team Scania which puts them one point behind Scania in the battle for survival, with Hoppers having a game in hand. Chris Jordan's first half free kick gave Hoppers a 1-0 lead at the break, but Lee Hammond returned the compliment in the 55th minute as he beat the Hoppers' keeper from a similar dead ball situation to make the scores all square. Jordan notched again to put Hoppers back in command, but Hammond notched from the penalty spot within minutes to level the scores again. Both teams

pushed for the winner, and Martin Smith thought he had secured it with his 87th minute goal for Scania. However, Hoppers have a happy knack of being able to score late on

when the chips are down, and they managed it again as Jordan completed his hat-trick with a low drive from the edge of the area before Ian Thompson struck a dramatic injury time goal to give Hoppers a 4-3 victory.

In Division Two, Bishop Auckland Cricket Club secured their place in Division Two even though they lost 4-0 to fellow promoted side Shuttle & Loom. Their promotion was secured as Hurworth Albion played out a 1-1 draw with fourth placed Jack Horners in Jack's final game of the season - a result which means that Hurworth can now only fail to

be promoted if they concede over 20 goals and lose all of their remaining five games. The Jack's pushed Hurworth close on Sunday, however, as James Cosgrove gave them a 1-0 lead in the second half of a very tight game. However, Hurworth's pressure finally told in the dying minutes as Gavin Brown beat the Jack's keeper from the edge of the box to all but end the Jack's promotion hopes. Elsewhere in Division Two, Sadberge and Greyhound are still locked in a fight for survival. Greyhound fell 8-1 to a rejuvenated Allstars side whilst Sadberge were beaten 3-2 by Copper Beech - a result that leaves Sadberge a point behind Greyhound and still filling the third relegation place.

Meanwhile Northern Spirit kept their slim survival hopes alive as they beat Smith & Allan 13-1 to move level on points with Sadberge, although Spirit are desperately running out of games. Man of the match Mike Donnelly top-scored for a rampant Spirit as he notched four goals - only blighting his performance by missing two first half penalties. Neil Pinkney, Dean Scott and substitute Neil Jollie all notched twice for Spirit, whilst Phil Moore and centre-backs Simon York and Ali Johnson all struck one apiece to complete the scoring.

In Division Three, Canney Hill Athletic concluded their season with an emphatic 6-0 victory over Faverdale, whilst Nestfield Seconds inflicted another defeat on Yates's Wine Lodge as they won 5-1.

Meanwhile, Pizza Perfekt remain in the fourth and final promotion spot after they beat Newton Cap 2-1. However, Royal British Legion only need a point from their three games in hand to overturn that advantage thanks to their 7-2 victory over the Falchion. Michael Meredith top-scored for the Legion with four whilst Trevor Cooke, Paul Barber and Paul Dinsdale all added a goal apiece. Richard Young and Mike Watt notched the Faverdale goals.

Division One

P W D L F A Pts Diff

Spraire RA 18 14 2 2 101 24 44 77

Nestfield Club 21 14 1 6 79 51 43 28

**Coundon 15 12 1 2 92 18 34 74

East End WMC 17 11 0 6 77 39 33 38

Newton Aycliffe SC 14 10 3 1 53 18 33 35

SPEEDWELL 17 9 1 7 70 44 28 26

Brinkburn 19 8 3 8 54 48 27 6

The Northern Echo 20 8 2 10 70 71 26 -1

Team Scania 19 5 0 14 67 117 15 -50

Hoppers T 18 4 2 12 33 87 14 -54

**Springfield 20 5 1 14 55 99 13 -44

Green Dragon (R) 20 1 0 19 32 167 3 -135

Division Two

P W D L F A Pts Diff

Shuttle and Loom (P) 18 16 1 1 113 14 49 99

BA Cricket Club (P) 16 13 0 3 122 34 39 88

Hurworth Albion 15 12 2 1 72 15 38 57

Jack Horners 20 12 2 6 72 35 38 37

**All Stars 17 10 2 5 102 39 29 63

BA The Derby 18 8 4 6 89 59 28 30

**Copper Beech DCS 20 8 1 11 63 54 22 9

Greyhound 19 4 1 14 47 89 13 -42

Sadberge 16 4 0 12 60 76 12 -16

Northern Spirit 19 3 3 13 49 90 12 -41

Smith and Allan (R) 18 0 0 18 11 295 0 -284

Division Three

P W D L F A Pts Diff

AFC Orange (C) 20 18 0 2 89 16 54 73

Canney Hill Ath (P) 22 15 3 4 89 37 48 52

Yates Wine Lodge (P) 22 14 2 6 77 52 44 25

Pizza Perfekt 22 13 2 7 95 62 41 33

Royal British Legion 19 13 2 4 74 42 41 32

Nestfield Seconds 20 11 4 5 75 48 37 27

Biglins News 20 8 5 7 62 43 29 19

The Falchion 22 6 2 14 48 80 20 -32

Faverdale 21 5 3 13 49 87 18 -38

Newton Cap 17 4 1 12 39 95 13 -56

AXA Insurance 20 4 0 16 37 77 12 -40

Hogans 21 0 0 21 29 125 0 -96

**Denotes three points deducted

T & M Disco Crook and District League

Earl of Warwick remain top but they had to come from behind to beat Crook Wanderers after a Barry Thompson penalty had put the Crook side ahead. Peter Sedgewick equalised on 60 minutes and Andrew Bowan added a second for the Warwick ten minutes from time.

Ian Britton gave Willington Cottles a first minute lead against Tow Law Cattle Mart. Wayne Fleming added a second after 20 minutes to give Cottles a comfortable half-time cushion. Carl Hinds pulled one back early in the second half but Cottles went into a 4-1 lead through Wayne Fleming and Shane Sugden. David Corrigan added a second for Cattle Mart to cap a creditable performance against one of the title favourites.

Stanhope Town took a 2-0 lead at Howden Australian through Louis Fraser and Darren Fletcher. John Chambers reduced the arrears before half time and shortly after the break Kevin Burke made it 2-2. Rob O'Dell headed Stanhope back into the lead before Chris Davis and Louise Fraser saw the dales side 5-2 up. Late goals from Micky Parker and Kevin Burke brought it back to 5-4 but Stanhope held on to win.

White Swan took a first half lead at Rugby Club but the home side came back to 1-1 through Clive Treby's 65th minute equaliser. John Paul Collinson netted a matchwinner for the Rugby Club two minutes from the end of a close encounter.

Bowman Anderson Accountants Spennymoor Sunday League

BROOMPARK Loves won the crucial battle at the top of the Second Division with a 3-0 win over current leaders Spennymoor Thorns.

Two goals by Gavin Wood and one by Stevan Hancock earned Loves the vital victory - a result that blows the championship race wide open.

Thorns have been consistently free scoring this season and have hogged the top spot with a string of thumping victories.

But their second League defeat now means that Loves would snatch the title trophy from under their noses if they can win their remaining 12 games.

"There's still a long way to go yet," said Loves manager Keith Flowers. "We've got a lot of the hard work out of the way - the win over Thorns is the result of our season - but we still have some top teams to play. The lads know what they have to do and it's going to be hard, but we have an excellent chance of achieving a treble, and they have to think of that." Loves are already in the final of the Second Division Cup and the B&A Trophy, as well as the quarter-finals of the Invitation Cup.

Meanwhile, midtable Boot & Shoe caused an upset when they beat promotion-chasing Binchester Social Club.

Two goals by David Lambert and one each by Trevor Dixon and John Dean ensured a narrow 4-3 win.

"It's a great result for us," said Shoe manager Gordon Robinson. "We scored two early goals and our tails were up from then on. I thought we played well - but the frustrating thing is that we know we can play like that because we have beat good sides, but we're not consistent enough. Hopefully this result can lead us on to better things." Jeff Morrow, Darren Spark and Scott Smith scored for Binchester.

Elsewhere in Division Two, Green Tree beat Brawns Den 4-3 thanks to goals by Craig Burney (2), Darren Johnston and Mark Smith. Dale Phillips (2) and Kenny Redman scored for Brawns Den.

Shildon Athletic beat Pit Laddie 4-1. Keith Hirst, Kevin Kavanagh, Alan Bailey and Paul Gargett all scored for Shildon, while Michael Symons scored for Laddie.

Bottom side Binchester Hotel beat Locomotion 2-0 with two goals by Gavin Codd.

In Division One, Huntsman's title hopes were dealt another blow when they were beaten 3-0 by current leaders New Masons. Thomas Louden, Neil Bannister and Damon Askew all scored for the Masons.

Old Shildon maintained their second spot with a 5-0 win over Horndale - Paul Shaw (2), Ian Maddison, Darren Plaice and James Hedley scoring the goals.

Europa beat Laceys 4-0 with goals by Aaron Duff (2), Mark Cairns and David Hanson, while Eldon Lane beat Salvins 5-1 thanks to two goals each by Steven Weldon and John Foster and one by Ian McGowan. Martin Longthorne scored for Salvins.

Pat Bowtell and Karl Dawson scored two goals for the Royal George to help them to a 5-3 win over The Grand. Neil Robinson also scored for the victors, while Mark and Kevin Priestly scored for the Grand, along with Mark Cowley.

In the first round of the Invitation Cup, Newton Aycliffe beat Masons United 3-0 thanks to two goals by Dave Muir and one by Mark Armstrong.

l The League reminds all club secretaries that the next meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 3 from 8pm in the clubhouse at Spennymoor United's Brewery Field Ground.

Results round-up (Sunday March 24) - Division One: New Masons 3, Huntsman 0; Salvins 1, Eldon Lane 5; Horndale 0, Old Shildon 5; Grand 3, Royal George 5; Laceys 1, Europa 4.

Division Two: Locomotion 0, Binchester Hotel 2; B.Loves 3, S.Thorns 0; Boot & Shoe 4, Binchester SC 3; Green Tree 4, Brawns Den 3; Black Horse 1, Postchaise 1; Victoria 1, North Briton 2; Shildon Athletic 4, Pit Laddie 1.

Invitation Cup, R1: Newton Aycliffe 3, Masons United 0.

Division One

P W D L F A Pts

New Masons 16 13 1 2 58 28 40

Old Shildon 18 12 2 4 68 34 38

Huntsman 16 10 4 2 70 32 34

Europa 13 9 1 3 40 26 28

Newton Aycliffe 11 8 2 1 48 23 26

Royal George 16 7 2 7 43 45 23

The Grand 17 6 2 9 45 59 20

Eldon Lane 16 6 3 7 46 45 21

Salvins 16 4 3 9 43 45 15

Brandon 20 3 4 13 42 90 13

Laceys 16 2 3 11 35 69 9

Horndale 17 1 3 13 30 71 6

Division Two

P W D L F A Pts

Spennymoor Thorns 22 20 0 2 137 28 60

*Black Horse 21 17 2 2 107 34 50

Broompark Loves 18 16 1 1 89 15 49

Postchaise 21 14 2 5 77 48 44

Binchester Social Club 19 13 2 4 66 34 41

Brawns Den 19 11 0 8 67 43 33

Masons United 20 10 3 7 54 45 33

Green Tree 21 12 0 9 64 63 36

Boot & Shoe 25 8 2 15 59 96 26

Shildon Athletic 19 7 1 11 44 59 22

North Briton 24 7 0 17 59 81 21

*Victoria 25 6 3 16 40 94 18

Two Blues 22 5 2 15 48 92 17

Locomotion 19 5 1 13 45 88 16

Pit Laddie 18 4 1 13 34 74 13

Binchester Hotel 22 3 0 19 26 112 9

*Denotes three points deducted

Durham Alliance

Birtley St Josephs were just a little better than Springwell Village to earn them another three points in the league. After only three minutes John Sexton had them in the lead, but they did not have long to celebrate as two minutes later Wayne Hennesy equalised for Springwell. St Josephs led again in the 40th minute through John Summerville. Springwell replied again in the 65th minute, Mark Huntley the scorer. Five minutes later John Sexton got his second and the winner for Birtley who are gradually improving their position in the league. Simonside Social Club and Seaham Mallard shared the points in a scrappy 2-2 draw. Simonside took the lead in 18 minutes. Michael Ord the scorer. In the second half Mallard went 2-1 up with Anthony Laidler equalising in 57 minutes and scoring another in the 64th minute. But in the 84th minute Ray Simpson scored from the spot to level it.

Leaders Hartlepool Boys Welfare were rampant again, with one way traffic against BHD Windows who had no answere in a 10-0 thrashing. Scorers were John Parkins (2), Dave Smith (2), Jeff Cooper (2), Mark Nicholson,Stuart Cooper, Terry Bainbridge and Paul Doughty.

Ebchester FC moved up one place in the league with a well earned win over Chester's FC. Michael Price had them in front from the penalty spot with Mark Green getting second for a 2-0 lead at the break Richard Hand pulled a goal back for Cheater's. But that counted for nothing when Keith Coulter and Michael Price scored for Ebchester.

Belford House go through to the next round of the Washington Aged Peoples Trophy with a 3-1 win over Seaham The Duke.