Wearside League: Turton the hero as West End boys climb to third

The game attracted 150 spectators – Silksworth’s biggest gate in three seasons – and fans were treated to an excellent game, with West End playing exciting football.

The man of the match was unquestionably Barry Turton, who scored three of his team’s four goals.

He gave West End a ninth-minute lead, converting following good work by Keiron Martin and 10 minutes later captain Lee Smith doubled the advantage.

When Turton scored his second from eight yards on 27 minutes, Silksworth faced an almost insurmountable challenge.

They improved during the second half, but, with only two minutes to go, Turton completed a superb hat-trick with a thunderbolt shot from 25 yards which gave goalkeeper Graeme Pickering absolutely no chance of saving.

West End are now five points behind second-top Stockton Town with a game in hand and 10 adrift of leaders Redcar Athletic who have played seven more games.

In the other game, Harton and Westoe CW’s Shaun Reay cancelled out Ash Clark’s early strike for Hartlepool in a 1-1 draw.