Durham Sunday League: Fired-up Houghton Chilton Lodge rock high-flying Keys to boost safety push

Houghton Chilton Lodge boosted their First Division survival chances by edging home 2-1 against third-top Washington Cross Keys.
Houghton Cricket Club (red) take on Redcar Old Boys in the Over-40s League last week. Picture by Kevin BradyHoughton Cricket Club (red) take on Redcar Old Boys in the Over-40s League last week. Picture by Kevin Brady
Houghton Cricket Club (red) take on Redcar Old Boys in the Over-40s League last week. Picture by Kevin Brady

Lodge deserved their triumph, courtesy of Dan Thompson and Iain MacPherson, but Keys felt they were hard done by.

Hilda Park grafted well to secure a 2-0 victory away to bottom club Pelaw Grange Dogs, with star man Chris Savage bagging both goals on his debut.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The match was marred by a serious knee injury sustained by centre-half Ross Kind.

Table-toppers East Rainton made it 15 wins out of 16 in Division Four but are still to clinch the title.

But they were made to scrap hard before edging home 3-2 at lowly Quarrington Hill WMC, who ended their season with a spirited display.

Star man Jon Grant (2) and Andrew Shepherd struck.

Rainton sit two points clear of second-placed Lambton Lions, who only have one game left, away to Gateshead Last Orders this weekend.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Promoted Lions secured a 14th league victory, beating Durham Rangers 3-1.

Ryan Huntley netted in reply to efforts from man of the match Ben Goodwin (2) and Jack Young. Nathan Rose shone for Rangers.

Fourth-top Gateshead Last Orders hit back strongly to win 4-3 at third-placed Grange Villa.

The fierce wind made life difficult for both teams, but Last Orders went ahead on 15 minutes when a right-wing cross was turned into his own net by Kyle Brown.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Villa levelled with a 28th-minute Ben Jefferson penalty, after a foul on Darryl Laws, and they went ahead with the second-half wind advantage, courtesy of Mark Greener and an unstoppable 35-yarder from Jefferson.

The loss of keeper James Davidson to a broken leg, after catching his studs in the turf, hit Villa, as Last Orders pulled one back. The hosts then had Jefferson rightly dismissed for a high and reckless tackle

Five minutes from time, Lee McGuinness’s mistimed tackle ended in an equalising penalty for Gateshead, before the visitors capitalised on a bad pass back to hit the winner.

Last Orders’ marksmen were Jonathan Graham, Mark McClannan and Chris Daley.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Burnside WMC maintained their perfect record to move clear in second place in Division One.

The title is certainly in their sights, despite trailing front-runners Durham County by 13 points.

Ushaw Moor Cricket Club competed well for the first half, limiting chances for Burnside and carving out a few opportunities o their own.

But Burnside made better use of the ball when in possession and made Ushaw Moor work hard to get it back.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

With the visitors having no subs available, they eventually ran out of steam and Burnside capitalising, totally dominating the second half, when they looked capable of scoring from every attack.

Elliot Cutts made the breakthrough, before Shaun Dixon and a Max Stoker brace confirmed a 10th win out of 10 for the home side. Craig Ellison stood out for Burnside, with keeper Michael Watson the outstanding performer for the cricketers.

Houghton Wild Boar climbed to fifth place thanks to a scrappy 2-1 win over Durham County in difficult conditions.

Boar struggled to create opportunities, but they clinically finished off their only chances to secure all three points to hand the leaders only their second league defeat.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Jack Carr notched for County, whose star man was Andrew Bartle.

Durham Bede Lodge SC shared the spoils with depleted Chester Bar 18Seven in an entertaining 1-1 draw

The teams matched up well, with Aaron Walker putting Bar 18Seven in front midway through the first half. The Chester side believe they should have won all three points, but Bede kept pressing and levelled with a quality strike from Stuart Thompson late on.

Andrew Marshall stood out for Bede Lodge.

Langley Park ended their home programme with a 1-1 draw against third-bottom Bishop Middleham.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

In a very even match, Langley were guilty of bad misses, but Bishop held onto the ball better.

Jake Davison came off the bench to give Langley the lead, but Bishop equalised from a corner to rescue a point in the final few minutes. Bishop rued a disallowed goal.

Tony Rutter shone for Langley.

Sherburn Village cruised to a 4-0 victory at Brandon Sports Club to rise to fourth place in the Premier Division table.

Sherburn’s preparation for their Friday night cup final could not have gone much better as they comfortably swept Brandon aside in a fixture the hosts will want to forget.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Three goals in the first 20 minutes sealed the game for the visitors, whose marksmen were star man James Ellis, Garry Dodds, Andrew Chester, with a 30-yarder, and Jordan Sanders.

Brandon still need a couple of wins to seal their place in the top division for next season. Their top man was Gavin Mudd.

Ouston Cherry Tree enhanced their survival chances by winning a six-pointer 2-1 at Chilton WMC, who have dropped back to third-bottom spot.

Ouston took the lead 10 minutes into the second half, when Josh Fryer was fouled on the edge of the area, and Andrew Clarkson stepped up to fire home the resulting free-kick.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Chilton equalised with 15 minutes left, with keeper David Harrison, outfield after a reshuffle, bent in a fantastic long-range effort with the outside of his boot.

Ouston were desperate for the win, and they got it seven minutes from time. Josh Fryer failed to control Stu Pryer’s ball in from the right, but it fell to Michael Ross, at the back post, to slot home.

Newton Aycliffe Locomotion ran out comfortable 4-0 winners away to bottom club Sacriston WMC.

First-half goals from Jack Oliver and Grant Hickman set up Locomotion, with Danny McLachlan grabbing a second-period brace to seal all three points.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Connor McEvoy ran the show for Loco, with Luke Wilson was best for Sacriston, who have still only three points on the board, with just two games to go.

Locomotion are just seven points behind leaders Pelton RAOB, with three games in hand.

Buffs, meanwhile, eased to a 5-1 success against Waldridge Park.

Man of the match Jack Honour (2), Alex Peake, Kevin Dixon and sub Kenneth Ball did the damage.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Waldridge fought well but managed just one goal, striker Bell rounding the keeper to finish from a tight angle.

Defender Dan Barrass starred for Park.

Bowburn kept alive their promotion challenge in Division Three, after edging home 3-2 against Ouston Juniors.

They are only five points behind second-top Lumley, with two games in hand.

The pitch was very poor, with one end appearing to be like quicksand, giving both teams problems.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Bowburn took the lead with a poacher’s strike from Lee Jennings against his former side, and they doubled their lead with a stunning Adam Kirk strike from distance, to lead 2-0 at the interval.

In the second half, Ouston dug in and Chris Pickersgill poked home a goal on the hour to give them hope. However, Jennings soon restored Bowburn’s two-goal advantage from the penalty spot.

Ouston keeper Cameron Findlay denied Jennings a hatrick with a fine penalty save, and celebrated gleefully.

Ouston threw everything at Bowburn, bringing on player-manager Micky McAdam and he soon burst clear from halfway, defying his 46 years, before cleverly rounding the keeper to make it 3-2.

Bowburn, though, held on for the win. Ben Dixon was Ouston’s star man.