-10th October 2006| back to top

Youth's win their first Cup.

Game ends in a minor controversy.

Redhouse Youths 3 Crown Electrics 2
Both teams were worthy finalists. However, neutrals would have put Crown as hot favourites. They'd cruised through their initial group and also the final group with maximum points to gain a Final spot. Youth's had been defeated off Sassco (in what was essentially a meaningless game) in the first round and drawn with Southwick in the final group stage. However, a stunning victory over Sporting Redhouse put them into the Final against a strong looking Crown.

Nevertheless, the Youth's were at it from the start. An early goal by Ramsay was soon added to by Coyne from a tight angle. Youth's thought they'd won it. However, Wardle, who looked trim and showed some excellent foot work throughout the game, picked off a mistake and fired one in as a reply. It was still all to play for, but Youth's, who now have the experience as well as a settled team, scored the critical third goal to make it 3-1. Crown were still not out of it and proved this by getting another reply. It was 3-2 and with two minutes remaining, Wardle keeled over with a very bad stomach problem. The game was held up and he clearly couldn't go on. The rest of the team wanted the game to be abandoned which was quite hypocritical and childish. Firstly, with two minutes remaining, the result would be standing and as in any Durham FA Affiliated competition, the game would continue despite any injury (regardless of how bad it would be).

So Youth's take their first trophy. They were finalists in the previous one and fully deserved this one. The Season 9 has officially ended now and Season 10 will kick off in two weeks time with 11 entrants. However, I will be confirming whether Crown Electrics or Hylton Castle will be entering. They've both ended on a low so I need to give it a day or so and confirm it with the management. If not, then we'll have 9 teams in the competition.

Official Friendly

Roker View 7 Downhill FC 0
BarPure.co.uk 7 Town End FC 0

-3rd October 2006| back to top

Crown and Youth face off in the Final.

Hylton and Sporting both beaten.

Crown Electrics 2 Hylton Castle 1
Castle started the strongest and had Crown on the back pedal constantly. An opening goal wasn't added to despite some intense pressure and eventually Crown equalised. For the second half it was 50-50 for a long while, but the game turned nasty when the referee received some abuse. Eventually, two players received the red card and Crown scored a late goal to secure a win and a Cup Final spot.

Redhouse Youth 2 Sporting Redhouse 1
Youth's did it again. They knocked Sporting out of the last competition and did it this time. Two goals in the first seemed to secure the win. Ramsay essentially tore Sporting to shreds before they came back with a goal. At 2-1, Sporting failed to add to their score to take the game to penalties (as both would be on the same goal difference) and Youth's reached their second Final to prove that they are definitely the form team in the League now that Wearview are no more.

Official Friendly

Southview FC 9 Sassco.co.uk 3
Roker View 4 BarPure.co.uk 1

Town End FC 4 Downhill FC 3

-26th September 2006| back to top

All still to play for.

Hylton, Sporting, Crown and Youth still in it for the Final.

Hylton Castle 1 Sassco.co.uk 0
A considerable performance from Sassco after last week's poor effort. The regulars were gone and two new debutantes came in against a strong looking Hylton team. The key issue for Hylton was not to lose. Sassco's disastrous performance against Crown meant Hylton really needed to win their last game regardless of goal difference. Only Sangha and Logan remained from the team last week and in came Simon Mulvainey, Mark Middlemiss, Gaz Anderson (ex-Wearview) and Gav Kershaw. A stubborn performance was broken when Gowey fired in a superb controlled shot. This was at the end of the first half. Hylton controlled most of the game and had the majority of the shots. Logan played superbly in goal and nearly got his rewards when Gaz Anderson fired in a late shot which could have equalised the game. 1-0 it was. Hylton have a good chance to get to the Final, while Sassco walk away with pride restored.

Southwick FC 1 Sporting Redhouse 1
A superb game in a very tight group. Sporting took the lead after some amazing misses (and saves) at the other end. It seemed as if the game was ebbing away, before Southwick equalised and looked dominant for a few minutes. Both these sides were strong and the game ended in a 1-1 draw. It's up for grabs now. Next week sees Youth take on Sporting. If they draw 1-1 next week, then it's two options - a penalty competition between all three if Southwick are there. Or, all three play on the same day (the week after). The fixture would be drawn out of a hat so that two teams will have to play back to back.

Official Friendly

BarPure.co.uk (Millfield) 4 Downhill FC 0

Southview FC 2 Downhill FC 1

Kit Rule.
Southwick FC have a £5 fine due to two players wearing incorrect shirt and one player wearing white socks.

-19th September 2006| back to top

Crown off to a flyer.

Heavy win could all but secure a Final place.

Crown Electrics 5 Sassco.co.uk 0
All Sassco's recent strong performances were put to waste as the regular squad came back in and played shockingly. Complete laziness and also failure to actually pass to feet led to Crown easily running out winners. They also didn't do the other team in the group (Hylton Castle) any favours by conceding five in total. Crown look likely to take the top (and Final spot) as Hylton now have to defeat Sassco and then gain a positive result against Crown. Robason struck twice as he keeps his rich vein of form going having scored a number of goals in their last game. Jeff Clark opened the scoring with a spectacular goal and they never really looked in danger of losing to Sassco in this competition.

Southwick FC 1 Redhouse Youth 1

One of two spectacular games tonight. Youth's were full-strength and took the game to Southwick. They probably had more shots, but suffered a major setback when Southwick scored. However, they didn't give up and it was Stef Mitchell who popped up and struck the equaliser. All square, which is an excellent result for Sporting, the other team in the group.

The top two teams meet each other in the Final.

Sporting Redhouse 3 Hylton Castle 1

Hylton headed the table at the start, but came up against another new look Sporting team. Steve Scott and Scott Johnstone were there for Sporting and made the difference as they started strongly. A goal settled the nerves for Sporting, but Hylton were stubborn and their goalkeeper, Pottsy, made save after save. They took full advantage with a superbly taken free kick to make it 1-1. However, Sporting had too much in attack and eventually ran out 3-1 winners.

Official Friendly

Roker View 4 The Bunker 1

Kit Rule.
Hylton Castle have a £5 fine due to one player wearing black socks.

-12th September 2006| back to top

Crown get some high scores.

Sassco defeat the Youth's to gain top spot.

Crown Electrics 8 Millfield Diamonds 1
Both Millfield and Crown were struggling for players. Millfield could only present five men and suffered the consequences. Crown ran up one of their highest scores as eight goals confirmed their Second Round place, in a very humid, but comfortable night of football.

Crown Electrics 11 Downhill FC 0

Two games never seem to bother Crown these days. They secured third place in the League with two back-to-back games and now easily navigated this group with an easy win.

Another massive score. Downhill had just played an 11-a-side, but struggled to keep the ball. Plenty of goals for Crown as confidence must now be sky high. They now face Sassco and the winners of the Sporting against Hylton game in two evenly balanced groups. Downhill need to get back to basics. Simple passing is all that's required. Also, possible a few older heads in the team which is by far the youngest within the League.

Sassco.co.uk 3 Redhouse Youth 1
Panic stations at both ends. Both my lot and the Youth's were struggling for players. However, we did manage to field six with Youth's having seven. Deano, Gav Kershaw (the goalkeeper) and Ally Hiles (ex MFS from Thursday last year) came in. We still had Logan, me and Tyzack. Youth's were missing Ramsay and Snowdon, but the rest were there. Happy to say that my three page text to the new players about tactics seemed to work. We were more disciplined than we would be with our normal side. Me and Gav at the back and Deano in front of us. Both Deano and Ally had astounding games and it was no surprise that we took the lead with a pearler of a shot from Tyzack. However, Youth's came back strongly and equalised with a precise shot from Kurt. Second half saw the same patter, but Tyzack struck again, before Ally Hiles scored in the dying minutes. Both teams are through, but it was played in a competitive atmosphere and Sassco, despite being vastly depleted secured another unexpected win.

Group B needs one game completing; Hylton v Sporting next week. The schedule is shown as below with the teams in the respective Second Round groups

Kit Rule.
Well done to all teams. No kit problems today.

-5th September 2006| back to top

Tyzack gets four for Sassco.

Southwick's record win. Bell's "debut" ends in tears against Sporting.

Sassco.co.uk 7 Town End FC 0
Last week, Town End started well against the Youth's but faded away. This week, the struggled from the start. Two immediate goals from Keith Mouat and Gary Tyzack effectively ended the game in the first five minutes. After that, Sassco sat back with Logan rarely troubled and Sangha, Gillespie and Dixon defending deep. Gary Tyzack notched up three more goals as he continues his excellent revival with Sassco, while Dixon and Gillespie also got on the score sheet. This defeat ends Town End's participation in the Cup as they now have a long break until the League starts. Sassco now top the table and face Redhouse Youth to decide who finishes top in the end.

Sporting Redhouse 6 Southview FC 2
Complete cruise control from Sporting again, as a changed side took advantage of Southview's gaps at the back. Southview had pulled off a coup by getting Tommy Bell to play for them, but it was a far cry from the Wearview days as his new team suffered a 6-2 defeat. Southview did manage to hit the crossbar on a few occasions, but that doesn't take into account Sporting dominance as Middlemiss struck a hat-trick. Marine's future in the group hangs in the balance as they are struggling with players (and basic kit rules) so the Southview - Marine result could either be awarded or another team could come in and play the fixture for Marine. Other alternative is to delete the team's two results.

Southwick FC 8 Downhill FC 1
It was literally men against boys. Downhill, fresh from an 11-a-side game struggled from start to finish as Southwick helped themselves to their highest score in the League and Cup to date. Normally Southwick have possession, but struggle to finish. This time, it was Chroma who started the rout and if he can score - anyone can score. 8-2 was the final game as Downhill look forward to a final encounter against Crown Electrics.

Kit Rule.
Well done to all teams. No kit problems today.

-30th August 2006| back to top

Bar PURE to sponsor the League.

First "local" company to be affiliated with the League.

Bar Pure will be sponsoring the next 6-a-side League. Previous spon