Wearside League: Sunderland West End, Silksworth CW clinch thrilling shoot-out cup successes

West End eventually won an epic shoot-out 11-10 against Redcar Athletic to win through to the semi-finals of the TWR Shipowners Charity Cup.

City rivals Silksworth, meanwhile, saw off Boldon CA in the Monkwearmouth Cup, also on penalties.

Ford Quarry staged a memorable occasion when West End came up against visitors Redcar Athletic.

The visitors opened the scoring after just seven minutes, when Jack Simpson fired home past goalkeeper Alan Bate.

But, on the half hour mark, Lee Smith equalised when he beat visiting goalkeeper Jordan Lowrie.

Ten minutes later, West End went in front for the first time, when Mark Robinson found the net.

However, two minutes into the second half, Jack Simpson levelled things up again.

No further goals came in a close-fought second half, so the tie went to penalties and, after a prolonged shoot-out, the home side eventually came out 11-10 winners.

West End secretary Anthony Golden said: “We were down to the bare bones and had nine regular squad players missing, so we were delighted to win.

“The players that came in did really well in the match and also in the penalty shoot-out!

In a first round Shipowners tie, Leam Rangers won an entertaining clash 4-3 against Hartlepool at Grayfields Enclosure.

The visitors stormed into a 2-0 lead when the Hartlepool defence allowed two free headers from corners and Leam controlled the game thereafter, until the 74th minute when Andy Blackburn reduced the deficit, firing past goalkeeper Neil Postlethwaite.

Three minutes later, however, Joe Hunter scored to regain Leam’s two-goal advantage. Soon after, it was 4-1 to the visitors, but Pool pulled two goals back through Jamie Tumilty in the final three minutes.

Leam held on, though, thankful to Postlethwaite, for his man-of-the-match performance.

In the Monkwearmouth Charity Cup, Silksworth CW and Boldon CA failed to produce many openings as their preliminary round clash ended goalless.

That took the match to penalties and the two keepers, Andrew Hunter and Dan Lowerson, both made great saves in the shoot-out.

However, Lowerson was Silksworth’s hero, saving three in total, including the decisive one as the Wearsiders edged through 6-5.

There were only three league games.

Hebburn Town Reserves went to the top of the table, courtesy of a narrow 1-0 win at Wolviston.

Hebburn now lead the table by two points, ahead of Cleator Moor Celtic, with the all-important goal coming in the 16th minute.

Nathan Sinclair beat the offside trap and squared the ball to Joe Warren, who drove firmly home from an angle, giving goalkeeper Chris Davidson no chance.

Coxhoe Athletic travelled to in-form Annfield Plain and succumbed to a 3-2 defeat.

Athletic did take the lead after 15 minutes, with Peter Brown netting, but, within five minutes, Annfield equalised when Dean Pearce scored.

Coxhoe regained the lead 10 minutes into the second half, when David Paul beat goalkeeper Lloyd Simpson.

But the Derwent Park men levelled for the second time, when Gary Mackay’s free-kick gave goalkeeper Daniel Scott no chance.

Plain’s winner came with five minutes remaining, when Daniel Maddison broke through the middle and rounded keeper Scott to score.

Darlington Reserves moved up to sixth place with a 5-3 home win over bottom club Windscale.

Lewis Jolly fired past goalkeeper Joseph Forbes to give the Cumbrians a surprise lead.

But James Beauchamp equalised on 35 minutes, neatly stroking the ball past goalkeeper James Dolan. Tom Young put Darlington 2-1 up soon after.

It was 3-1 after 65 minutes, thanks to Vinnie Steels, but a minute later Laurie Black pulled one back. The visitors were playing well at this point and Ryan Gray smashed home a 70th-minute penalty equaliser.

However, with 10 minutes remaining, Darlington got back in front when Steels scored his second and Beauchamp helped himself to his second, on 87 minutes, to seal the victory.

Cleator Moor cruised to a ruthless 18-0 Cumberland County Cup win over Penrith Saints, while Prudhoe Town lost 4-3 after extra time to Percy Main Amateurs in the Northumberland County Cup.