Billingham edge through

The home side became unsettled immediately and Mark Steel almost scored after two minutes, the Billingham side were well on top when a cross was forced home against the run of play by Tony Callaghan to give the Wearsiders the lead, the visitors kept their shape and a cross by Keith Aldridge was fired home by Steel to level, after the interval only excellent saves by ian gaunt in the home goal prevented Stan Hutchcraft and Aldridge scoring the winner,and after exta time. Bob Scaife, the ex-Hartlepool United midfielder playing his first game after injury, scored his penalty and Paul Dodd, the Billingham keeper, saved all five Lord Seaham penalties to take the Teessiders through. Billingham now are at home to Steels SC in the semi-final on Saturday, December 15. Dodd was man of the match with Harry Davies and Scaife battling well in midfield while Aldridge and Steel were excellent in attack for Billingham.

Tomorrow Billingham entertain local rivals Blackhall Hardwick in a league game at Norton (10.30am).

In the premier league Ferryhill Greyhound won 1-0 at home to Usworth in a very close game. Willie Taylor scored the vital goal after ten minutes when he netted from a Kevin Simpson corner.

In division one Mrs Flint's Pirates won 3-2 at home to Gateshead Ex-Servicemen. Hero of the match was hat-trick scorer Kevin Smith, his first goal coming after 20 minutes to give Pirates a 1-0 lead, his second restored the Pirates' lead 2-1 and his third made it 3-1 up. The villain of the piece was Pirates' keeper Keith Brain whose two errors as well as causing two goals earned him Mrs Flint's displeasure which means there are no free pints this week for him.

Langley Park Rams Head failed to get it right and lost 3-0 away to Wearmouth. Trailing 1-0 at the interval, they failed to hold the lively Wearmouth forward and conceded a further tow goals.

In division two Newton Aycliffe stayed in second place despite losing 2-1 away to Cleveland Bridge who now move into third spot seven points behind. Aycliffe had the edge in the first half and led 1-0 courtesy of Tony Jinks. The restart saw Bridge attacking and eventually they drew level. They then were awarded a penalty which Aycliffe's keeper Ian Shepherd brilliant saved. A draw looked certain until in the last minute of time a free kick from Bridge rockets into the top corner of the net giving the keeper no chance and the Bridge 2-1 victory.

Glaxo defeated Darsley Park 2-0 at home. Brian Watson and Ronnie Sexton scored to put them 2-0 up at half time. Mistakes and wasted chances cost them further goals. David Earle shone in midfield.

In division three Consett are still unbeaten and with a 100 per cent record of winning they defeated Hylton Castle 2-1 away form home. George Taylor and Paul Quinn were their scorers.

Wynyard Vets did well to draw 1-1 to second placed Hebburn in a hard-fought game. Wynyard's keeper was outstanding and greatly contributed to their 1-1 draw.

Durham C Strollers lost 2-1 at home to Rockcliffe, Steve Greenham gave them a 1-0 interval lead but after the restart Rockcliffe came back into the game and Peter Carr and Billy Rogers scored to make it.

West Cornforth drew 0-0 with Steels FC in a game which had everything but goals.

In division four Darlington Railway lost 4-0 away to Houghton Mill Inn. Mark Scell scored a hat-trick.

Trimdon Vets lost 3-2 at home to North Shields Vets. To Trimdon's credit they never gave in and were unlucky not to gain a draw. 2-0 down at the interval they fought back to make it 2-1 then fell behind but once again came 3-2 and were still attacking only for time to run out.

Premier Division

P W D L F A Pts

Seaton Delaval 11 6 2 3 16 13 20

Killingworth A 11 6 2 3 21 19 29

Billingham Wand 11 5 4 2 23 14 19

Lord Seaham 9 5 3 1 15 10 18

Owton Manor 10 5 2 3 27 21 17

Steels SC 10 5 1 4 20 15 16

Penshaw CC 11 5 1 5 15 15 16

Ferryhill Grey 11 4 3 4 16 15 15

Bhall Hardwick 12 3 3 6 15 24 12

Usworth WMC 12 3 2 7 13 20 11

N Police 9 2 3 4 13 17 9

Marden 11 2 0 9 16 28 6

Division One

P W D L F A Pts

Masons Arms 14 9 3 2 43 15 30

Sland Catholic 13 8 2 3 43 29 26

Grindon Broad 12 8 0 4 36 21 24

Wardley Green 13 6 5 2 25 20 23

Wallsend RAOB 12 6 4 2 34 17 22

Wallsend RS 13 6 1 6 21 30 19

Sedgefield 11 4 3 4 20 18 15

Wearmouth 11 4 2 5 13 20 14

Rams Head 13 2 5 6 17 30 11

Board Inn 13 2 5 6 17 30 11

Brit Telecom 12 1 3 8 14 34 6

Gateshead Ex-S 11 0 5 6 17 32 5

Division Two

P W D L F A Pts

Barns Hotel 11 11 0 0 38 11 33

N Aycliffe 13 9 2 2 36 14 29

Cleveland Br 13 7 1 5 35 31 22

Spring Gardens 12 6 2 4 27 22 20

Houghton CC 13 6 0 7 23 26 18

Millstone Wand 13 4 4 5 32 34 16

Boldon BB 13 4 2 7 22 28 14

Hartlepool Cath 12 4 3 6 24 31 14

Glaxo 12 4 2 6 17 24 14

Red House WMC 10 3 3 4 12 15 12

Roker Queen Vic 13 3 3 7 23 44 12

Darsley Park 13 2 1 10 19 43 7

Division Three

P W D L F A Pts

Consett CC 11 11 0 0 40 6 33

Hebburn DT 15 9 4 2 51 28 31

Marsden Inn 13 8 1 4 38 28 25

Hylton Castle 13 5 6 2 27 24 21

Regency Wind 14 5 3 6 22 32 18

Steels FC 12 4 5 3 24 19 17

Touchdown 11 5 1 5 31 27 16

Willow Pond 12 5 1 6 23 26 16

Taylors 14 4 3 7 29 29 15

Wynyard Vets 13 4 3 6 20 25 15

Rockcliffe A 13 4 3 6 18 25 15

West Cornforth 14 4 3 8 23 32 15

Durham CS 14 4 2 8 26 37 14

Oddies 14 2 1 11 23 56 7

Division Four

P W D L F A Pts

Wingate 13 13 0 0 45 12 39

Halfway House 14 7 3 4 34 27 24

Billingham Town 12 7 2 3 45 22 23

Dagmar 14 6 4 4 29 21 22

Darlington Rail 12 6 1 5 40 35 19

Sportsman A 14 4 6 4 30 24 18

N Shields Vets 11 5 2 4 24 30 17

Hartlepool RNC 14 5 2 7 26 35 17

Winstons 14 3 5 6 18 25 14

Thornley Celtic 12 4 1 7 22 33 13

Houghton Mill 13 3 3 7 29 32 12

White Horse Inn 14 3 3 8 33 39 12

Trimdon Vets 13 2 2 9 14 42 8

Emergency Services League

Durham and Chester-le-Street Police took the honours this week with a 4-2 win over Frankland in the Meredith Trophy second round. High flying Frankland had led 2-0 with goals from Darren Finlay and Ian Gibson. The Durham side hit back with a brace by Dave Oliver and one goal each for Marty Blenkinsopp and Mark Ferry. The Durham side have won four on the trot after a bad start to the season. Their opponents in the semi-finals will be Washington Police who put out ten-man Langbaurgh 5-2. Like their semi-final opposition Washington have now put together a three-match unbeaten run. Andy Richardson, Andy Kerr, Neil Gray, Ian Kilner and an own goal made up Washington's tally, Matt Lymer and an Andy Robinson penalty scored for the Cleveland side.

In a delayed first round tie Easington romped to a 10-0 win over ten-man Durham Fire. They meet Stockton Police in the second round. Paul Footes and Neil Robinson both scored hat-trick with Vince Marriner (2), Alex Clarke and Dave Cuthbert completing the scoring.

Durham HQ remain top of the league with a 3-1 win over Darlington. Steve Rodney (2) and Tony Insall got the goals with Andy Stuart man of the match. Fred Wood scored Darlington's goal.

Newcastle West moved into second spot with an 11-1 trouncing of nine-man Stockton. Paul Kindon (4), Makepeace (3), Morris (2), Jarvis and Foray got the goals. Dave Oakes must be kicking himself for being on a course. Neil Young scored Stockton's goal and was man of the match in his side's grave display.

Sunderland Saints were five-goal winners over Sedgefield, Murray (2), Paul Barrett, Ian Stephen and a rare goal by Tom Box secured Saints all the points.

P W D L D A Pts

Durham HQ 9 7 1 1 27 17 22

Newcastle West 8 6 1 1 31 13 19

Frankland 8 6 0 2 27 10 18

Easington 7 5 0 2 34 10 15

Sund Saints 9 5 0 4 29 23 15

Stockton 9 4 1 4 24 37 13

Langbaurgh 8 4 0 4 17 19 12

Durham & Ch.-le-St 7 3 0 4 21 26 9

Derwentside 6 2 1 3 14 10 7

Durham Fire 7 2 0 5 16 20 6

Washington 6 1 1 3 4 11 4

*Darlington 7 0 1 6 12 33 0

*Sedgefield 8 0 2 6 9 36 0

*Denotes three points deducted