George earn shock point

A DEPLETED Royal George grabbed a shock point from the Huntsman when their 10 men ground out a 2-2 draw.

A determined George, with six regulars missing, took a first-half lead when goals by Dave Leighton and Neil Robinson gave them a two-goal advantage.

Huntsman pulled it back to 2-2 before the half-time interval through Chris Walker and Steve Hepples, but despite a second-half onslaught, the visitors could not find the elusive winner.

"All creit must go to Royal George," said Huntsman manager Stuart Hodgson. "They worked extremely hard for each other and defended very well, but I'm very disappointed. We're going out just expecting to win and, when we have some really tough games coming up over the next four weeks, we cannot afford to take that kind of attitude."

George gaffer Stuart Timmiss said: "We're delighted with the result, especially having so many players unavailable. We had three out through injury, two at a christening and one missing because of a nagging wife! But we've worked very hard and I think it was a fair result."

Old Shildon capitalised on Huntsman's result and leapfrogged them with a 4-1 win over Horndale.

A hat-trick by Darren Plaice and one by Ian Maddison ensured the victory, while Tony Stebbings scored for Horndale.

Brandon won their second game on the trot when they beat Eldon Lane 3-2. Michael Chapman scored two for Brandon and Lee Nyland one, while John Foster and Steven Weldon scored for Eldon.

In Division Two, Spennymoor Thorns beat Victoria 6-0 with goals by Keith Hirst (two), Mark Russell, Phil Thompson and Steven and Andrew Richardson.

Two Blues beat the North Briton 4-3 thanks to two goals by Paul Richardson and one each from Adrian and David Brown. David Patrick, Kevin O'Neil and Dennis Townson scored for the Brit. The Black Horse inflicted an emphatic 11-0 victory over struggling Locomotion.

Meanwhile, Second Division Postchaise caused a shock when they beat First Division Europa to book a place in the B&A Trophy Final. Postchaise will play Broompark Loves - who beat Brawns Den 6-5 on penalties after drawing 1-1 - in the final at Spennymoor United's Brewery Field on Sunday, May 12.

Finally, Shildon Athletic dumped Green Tree out of the Invitation Cup with a 2-1 win. Ryan Laffy and Alan Bailey scored for Athletic, with Craig Burner scoring for the Tree.

Results round-up - Division One: The Grand 1, Salvins 1; Brandon 3, Eldon Lane 2; Old Shildon 4, Horndale 1; Royal George 2, Huntsman 2.

Division Two: Two Blues 4, North Briton 3; Black Horse 11, Locomotion 0; Victoria 0, S.Thorns 6.

B&A Trophy, SFs: Europa 2, Postchaise 4; B.Loves 1, Brawns Den 1 (Loves won 6-5 on pens).

Invitation Cup, R2: Green Tree 1, Shildon Athletic 2.

Division One

P W D L F A Pts

New Masons 15 12 1 2 55 28 37

Old Shildon 17 11 2 4 53 34 35

Huntsman 15 10 4 1 70 29 34

Newton Aycliffe 11 8 2 1 48 22 26

Europa 12 8 1 3 36 25 25

Royal George 15 6 2 7 38 42 20

The Grand 16 6 2 8 42 55 20

Eldon Lane 15 5 3 7 41 44 18

Salvins 15 4 3 8 42 60 15

Brandon 20 3 4 13 41 90 13

Laceys 15 2 3 10 34 65 9

Horndale 16 1 3 12 30 66 6

Division Two

P W D L F A Pts

Spennymoor Thorns 20 19 0 1 131 25 57

*Black Horse 20 17 1 2 106 33 49

Broompark Loves 17 15 1 1 86 15 46

Postchaise 20 14 1 5 76 47 43

Binchester Soc. Club 18 13 2 3 63 30 41

Brawns Den 18 11 0 7 64 39 33

Masons United 20 10 3 7 54 45 33

Green Tree 20 11 0 9 60 60 33

Boot & Shoe 24 7 2 15 55 93 23

Shildon Athletic 18 6 1 11 40 58 19

North Briton 23 6 0 17 57 80 18

*Victoria 23 6 3 14 39 86 18

Two Blues 22 5 2 15 48 92 17

Locomotion 19 5 1 13 45 97 16

Pit Laddie 17 4 1 12 33 70 13

Binchester Hotel 21 2 0 19 24 112 6

*Denotes three points deducted

Sunderland Catholic Club Over-40s League

The weather once again interfered with the fixtures, 13 games being postponed due to grounds being waterlogged. In the Kenny Ball Cup Ferryhill Greyhound defeated Northumbria Police 2-1 at home in a lacklustre match. Very few scoring chances were created, it was a scrappy defensive struggle on a very heavy muddy pitch in which good football was virtually impossible. Ferryhill led 1-0 courtesy of Geoff Mason at the break. After the restart Mason added another to put Ferryhill 2-0 up . Late on Colin Ayre scored to make it 1-2 for the Police.

Consett Cricket Club lost 2-4 away to division one second placed Grindon. Tony Berwick gave Grindon the lead after 12 minutes and shortly after Kevin Thompson made it 2-0. Consett made it 1-2 just on half time and then levelled shortly after the restart. Grindon now came back strongly and two further goals from Thompson completed his hat-trick and saw Grindon run out comfortable winners.

Hartlepool Royal Naval Club lost 1-5 away to division one side Wallsend Rising Sun. Wallsend also looked t have the edge of the division four side and led 2-1 at the break through Barby and Henderson, Pools scoring close on the interval. The restart saw Wallsend still forcing the pace and further goals from Henderson, Stoker and ex-Rome player Goichocea easily settled the issue in their favour. Sedgefield lost 1-2 away to Wardley Green. Sedgefield scored midway through the first half having a free header from a corner, but Wardley came back after the restart having the bulk of the game. Wilson levelled when he headed home a Steve Hailes free kick and Wilson won the game when he scored late on direct with a free kick.

West Cornforth lost 1-6 at home to premier leaders Steels SC. Cornforth never gave up trying, but found it difficult to contain Steels' attacking football. In division three Durham C Strollers won 8-1 against bottom of the league Oddies. If Durham had only shown this type of football earlier in the season they would now be promotion contenders. Leading 3-1 at half-time they dominated the entire second half to win 8-1 very easily. Their marksmen were Steve Greenham and Ray Harrison hat-tricks, Thompson and Coburn one apiece.

In division four Billingham Town lost 1-2 away to the champions Wingate trailing 0-2 at half-time to a brace from Jimmy Francia. They did pull one back after the restart but just could not grab the equaliser as Wingate's defence held rock solid. Now they must win all their three remaining games to stay in the promotion race.

Premier Division

P W D L F A Pts

Steels 17 11 2 4 42 24 35

Killingworth A 18 11 2 5 38 31 35

Billingham W 17 10 4 3 43 25 34

Owton Manor 19 10 4 5 45 34 34

Ferryhill Grey 19 8 4 7 28 26 28

Seaton Delaval 19 7 3 7 24 21 24

Lord Seaham 13 6 3 4 21 20 21

Penshaw CC 19 6 3 10 21 27 21

Blackhall H 20 5 4 11 25 42 19

Usworth WMC 18 5 3 10 32 28 18

Marden 20 5 1 14 28 46 16

N Police 15 4 3 8 18 25 15

Division One

P W D L F A Pts

Masons Arms 20 13 3 4 60 26 42

Grindon Broad 20 12 2 6 57 33 38

Sland Cath 19 11 3 5 52 33 36

Wallsend RAOB 20 10 5 5 49 28 35

Sedgefield 17 10 3 4 38 27 33

Wardley Green 19 8 6 5 33 28 30

Wallsend RS 20 6 4 10 30 44 22

Wearmouth 18 6 3 9 20 32 21

Rams Head 20 4 7 9 30 49 19

Board Inn 17 3 6 8 26 49 15

Gateshead Ex-S 17 2 6 9 28 42 12

British Telecom 19 2 4 13 26 56 10

Division Two

P W D L F A Pts

Barnes Hotel 18 18 0 0 60 13 54

N Aycliffe 20 11 4 5 47 30 37

Cleveland Br 20 11 1 8 50 46 34

Spring Gardens 21 10 3 8 47 42 33

Houghton CC 19 9 1 9 37 38 28

Red House WMC 17 7 4 6 31 28 25

Millstone Wand 18 6 6 6 45 47 24

Hartlepool Cath 19 7 3 9 37 43 24

Glaxo 18 5 4 9 32 36 19

Boldon BB 20 5 4 11 36 48 19

Roker Queen Vic 19 4 3 12 31 58 15

Darsley Park 19 3 3 13 29 64 12

Division Three

P W D L F A Pts

Consett CC 18 16 1 1 57 13 49

Touchdown H 17 11 1 5 57 34 34

Hebburn DT 18 10 4 5 57 37 34

Marsden Inn 20 10 3 7 47 40 33

Durham CS 21 10 2 9 51 48 32

Wynyard Vets 21 9 3 9 42 44 30

Hylton Castle 18 7 7 4 36 33 28

Steels FC 18 7 6 5 35 28 27

W Cornforth 23 7 4 12 40 47 25

Regency Wind 21 7 4 10 30 50 25

Rockcliffe A 16 5 4 7 25 28 19

Taylors 20 5 4 11 35 44 19

Willow Pond 18 5 2 11 27 43 17

Oddies 21 3 1 17 31 87 10

Division Four

P W D L F A Pts

Wingate 20 18 1 1 65 19 55

Hartlepool RNC 21 12 2 7 50 46 38

Billingham Town 21 11 2 8 64 38 35

Dargmar FC 22 9 5 8 52 43 32

N Shields Vet 17 9 4 4 53 44 31

Sportsmans A 21 8 6 7 41 36 30

Darlington Rail 17 8 3 6 49 42 27

Thornley Celtic 21 8 2 11 35 48 26

Halfway House 21 7 3 11 41 52 24

Winstons 19 5 6 8 30 39 21

Trimdon Vets 21 5 4 12 25 54 19

Houghton Mill 20 5 3 12 37 49 18

White Horse Inn 23 4 5 14 40 56 17