Northern League: Crook roar back to stun Lawyers

The Lawyers, whose promotion ambitions suffered a costly blow, took a 14th-minute lead, when Adam Nicholls notched.

Ten minutes later, Adam Shields equalised and Kyle Morris hit Crook’s winner five minutes into the second half.

Hebburn Town rose to second spot following a 1-0 win at Willington, ending the Hall Lane side’s 11-game unbeaten league run.

The only goal came in the 36th minute, when Dan Robinson fired home.

* The Northern League’s appeal against the decision of the FA’s Leagues Committee to refuse a proposal to establish a new League at Step 4 next season has been dismissed by an independent Appeal Board at the FA.

A league statement said: “After the hearing, the representatives of the Leagues Committee and the Northern League had a very harmonious discussion about the future and are looking forward to working together to address the long-standing issues of travelling distance and time for the clubs in this part of the country.

“The pilot for new divisions at Steps 3 and 4 is a two-year pilot.

“The committee intend to work with the Northern League representatives during that time to address the outstanding issues in the hope that an eighth Step 4 Division can be introduced in the North East very soon, but it is likely that the administration of that new League will have to go through a bidding process, as happened with the administration and responsibilities for the two new divisions which are introduced at the end of this season.”