Wearside League Wanderings - part six

The sixth part of my wanderings around the Wearside League features two new clubs who were accepted into the league for the 2011-12 season, both coincidently faced north-east Non-League legends Willington.

293. Hill Top Ground

Gateshead Leam Rangers 2v0 Willington
Wearside League
Wednesday 17th August 2011

Leam Rangers formed as a youth football club in 1993, the brainchild of current Club Secretary Rob Houghton. The club secured a lease on council land at the top of the Wealcroft on Leam Lane Estate in the southern end of Gateshead. The Hill Top Ground was transformed from an overgrown grassed wasteland to a canny little ground with good facilities, which is now suitable to host Wearside League football.

The club now run 22 boys and girls teams from ages 6 to 18 as well as two senior sides. The Leam played in the Durham Alliance between 2009 and 2011 until a successful application to step up to the Wearside League last summer. The club still have a youth side in the Durham Alliance which is used as a stepping stone to the senior squad.

The redevelopment of the ground is due to the hard work and dedication of Mr Hughton with the help of willing volunteers. He even took a bricklaying course to build a dressing room, as the kids were using metal storage containers without the use of a washroom or toilet.

The ground now has a pleasant club house in between new changing rooms and refreshment bar after a successful application for funding was made to the Football Foundation. The entrance has the club name adorning the metal gates and the pitch is fully fenced off with new hard standing on the nearside. The far side has a pair of stone dugouts and the grass bank is a popular spot for spectators.

Gateshead Leam Rangers opened their first Wearside League campaign with two away defeats and I was in attendance as the Hill Top Ground hosted its very first game at level 7 of the Non-League pyramid against Willington.

The Leam produced a gritty and determined performance to mark the occasion with a first victory of the season. A goal in each half by David Lucas secured a comfortable win, the opening goal coming after only 7 minutes, the striker nodding home a peach of a cross from Liam Barnett(see pic below), then the duo again combined on the hour mark when Barnett was tripped in the box and Lucas despatched the penalty kick to chalk up the Leam’s first three points.

The Leam have a great set up and the club’s progress means that Rangers are now the closest club from my home at Gallowgate View, so I’ll be able to frequently pop down and check on the team’s progress.

The 100FgC was again in attendance on Non-League Day on the 3rd September, with both Michael (Squad #119) and Andy Hudson(squad#173) watching the game with Peterlee Town.
You can read the lads in depth reports on Leam Rangers at;
The Accidental Groundhopper (Michael)
Ganning Away (Andy)

Matchday stats
GLR 2(Lucas 9, 60pen) WFC 0
att.70approx
Admission £2
Programme 50p

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298. Ford Quarry

Sunderland West End 2v3 Willington
Wearside League
Saturday 8th October 2011

Sunderland West End formed just this year when The Jolly Potters merged with Wearside League outfit Houghton Town. The Jolly Potters were a successful side in the Wearside Combination League, winning a hat-trick of league titles and the Alan Hood memorial trophy twice, since forming in 2006.

The club play at Ford Quarry which is in the South Hylton district of Sunderland The ground is off St Lukes Road, where a road bends down the bank and leads you to the ground entrance. The junction isn’t easy to spot as I drove past it a couple of times until I noticed the pitch at the bottom of the hill.
The Ford Quarry ground was officially opened by Sunderland Council Leader Paul Watson on the 3rd August, when a charity game took place between Sunderland West End and Northern League side Sunderland RCA in aid of The Peter David Lane Trust Fund. The ground has large changing room facilities, a fully fenced off pitch with a pair of metal dugouts.

After I saw Willington lose at Leam Rangers, they suffered a heavy home defeat against Ryhope in the following match. Since then they’ve won eight league fixtures off the belt and stretched it to 9, but only just, after snatching a late winner to deny West End a point.

West End took the lead in the 9th minute when Stubbs capitalised on a defensive mix up to shoot home from a tight angle, but Willington quickly responded, seven minutes later Yorke nodded home from close range, then just before half time Lee beat the offside trap and having plenty of time to pick his spot with a neat finish.
The second half saw West End have plenty of possession with the visitors leaving their two main strikers mooching around the half way line, relying on the long ball tactic to catch the home side on the break.
There was a long stoppage after 75th minute when one of the West End players went for a 50-50 ball and fell over and banged his head against one of the stone posts on the perimeter fence. After a 5 minute delay the player got to his feet and thankfully was ok - “I’m alreet, I just knocked me’sell oot that’s aall” was his insouciant response as the game went on without him.

Just as it was looking as if we had witnessed a goalless second half, the match finished with a dramatic climax. West looked to have grabbed a well earned draw in the 90th minute when a cross shot from Coomber found the top corner off the net, then in the 6 minutes of added on time the game swung back and forth with both teams desperate for a winner.

The winning goal duly arrived in the second minute of stoppage time. The home keeper who played a blinder all afternoon produced two terrific saves from close range, until the ball was unfortunately parried into the path of Lee who was left with an open goal to simply walk the ball over the line to make it nine league wins on the bounce for the men from County Durham.

Sunderland West End are another good addition to the league and matches like this one are a credit to the Wearside League - a cracking game and well worth the two quid admission fee!

Matchday stats

SWE 2(Stubbs 9,Coomber 90) WFC 3(Yorke 16, Lee 42,90+2)
att.47(HC)
Admmission £2
programme:none

Wearside League Wanderings - part five

258. Eastbourne Sports Complex

Darlington Cleveland Bridge 4v2 Prudhoe Town
Wearside League
Saturday 7th August 2010

Three new clubs entered the Wearside League this season, two of which met on the opening day of the season at the Eastbourne Sports Complex.
This is the fifth season of the current Darlington Cleveland Bridge, having played two years in local leagues followed by two seasons in the Teesside League.
The original club formed in 1903 as a works team for employees only. They began playing at a higher level in 1981 when joining the Northern Alliance, which they won in 1982-83. The following season they stepped up to the Northern League, playing in the Second Division and changing their name to Darlington Cleveland Social in 1993-94. The club folded early in the 1996-97 season after losing all eight matches. The factory closed and their Neasham Road ground where they had played since their formation was sold off for housing.

The Eastbourne Sports Complex is found on the edge of Darlington town centre just off Yarm Road. The players use the changing rooms in the complex building, which means a long walk through the car park to the pitch. The ground has full athletics provisions surrounded by a running track. There’s a storage block which has refreshment facilities and a slight overhanging roof which acts as the only spectator shelter.
At each side of the pitch there is raised grass banks, with the far side giving the best view being closer to the pitch. Cleveland Bridge entertained Prudhoe Town, who have returned to competitive action after a year out after resigning from the Northern League at the end of the 2008-09 season.
The home side only took 8 minutes to score their very first goal in the Wearside League, Ripley pounced with a close range volley after a mix up in the Prudhoe defence.
Further first half strikes from Richardson who finished well after beating the offside trap and a shot from the edge of the box from substitute Wilson but the hosts in a commanding position at the break.
During the first half I noticed a spectator sporting a Plymouth Argyle shirt, I surmised that this could only be one person, as there can’t be that many Pilgrims fans in County Durham. My inkling was correct when I was approached at half time by 100FgC squad#138 Lee Stewart who introduced himself and together we watched the second half.
When Ripley added his second goal of the afternoon it was a case of just how many more Cleveland were going to add to the four goal bagged in the opening 48 minutes.
Prudhoe improved as the game progressed and Best reduced the deficit on 65 minutes, which looked no more than a consolation, but with five minutes remaining he added his second with a close range header after the initial shot came back off the crossbar.
In the last five minutes Town missed numerous chances, creating more in the dying embers of the game then they had in the opening 85 minutes. If the game had gone on for a further ten minutes you would have fancied Prudda to grab a point. Overall the game was quite entertaining and Cleveland Bridge can be pleased with their encouraging start.
Matchday stats
DCB 4(Ripley 8,48 Richardson 12 Wilson 38) PTFC 2(Best 65,85)
Att. 33hc
Admission and programme:none
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264. Bishopton Road West
Stockton Town 4v2 Boldon CA

Wearside League

Saturday 18th September 2010

The other new Wearside League club this season are Stockton Town, this being only their second season in senior football after playing in the Teesside League last season.
The club originally formed in 1979 as Hartburn Juniors, fielding their first side in the Teesside Junior Football Alliance at Under-12 level. In 2003 they became Stockton Town having obtained the FA Charter Standard for Clubs the previous year.
The club now runs seventeen sides from boys under-7’s to under-18’s, along with the senior side, Reserves and three girls teams.

The Bishopton Road West ground is found about a mile from Stockton town centre in between Stockton Sixth Form College and Our Lady & St Bedes School.
The entrance is shared with the college, at the far side of the car park is the clubhouse which has a fully licensed bar which has live big screen football (On them dodgy channels…Eddy) and also houses the changing room facilities.
The pitch is at the side of the clubhouse and behind the neighbouring school, which is quite a walk away over two other football pitches at the far end of the field. The pitch is fully fenced off, surrounded by hard standing with a pair of Perspex dugouts.

My second game in the Wearside League this season saw the same score line as my previous encounter, with the home side again coming out on top.
Stockton took an early lead with a header from Scott Hine from eight yards out which went in via both the goalkeeper and crossbar, as they comfortably held on to their one goal advantage until half time.
Boldon started the second half well and early pressure was rewarded with a penalty on the hour from Meak, who was brought down by ‘keeper Swann in a one-on-one situation, although the referee’s decision was very harsh indeed.
The goal was a wake up call for Stockton, within eight minutes they lead 3-1 with striker Hines completing his hat-trick. His second goal was a cool finish, going round the ‘keeper before slotting the ball home and his third was from the penalty spot, the referee levelled things up making it once each in bogus penalty decisions.
The visitors reduced the arrears in the last minute with a fine finish by Hudson, but never threatened in time added on, instead it was the hosts who clinched it with substitute Ballantyne capitalising on a defensive error, allowing him an easy finish to wrap up the three points. During the interval myself and my son James wandered into the clubhouse and after a spot of channel hopping the barman found the Everton v Newcastle game, which I was delighted to viddy during the half time break. The match finished at 4.15pm which gave us a good 35 minutes left of the match at Goodison to watch, so after racing back to the clubhouse imagine our disappointment when we found a blank screen on the wall, accompanied with the words ‘No signal’ (Dodgy channels indeed…Eddy) so we had no choice but to head back home, having to settling on listening in on tin-pot local radio.

Matchday stats
STFC 4(Hines 5,63,69p Ballantyne 90+5) BCA 2 (Meak 64p Hudson 90)
Admission £1
Programme: none
Att.45hc

Wearside League Wanderings - part four

220. Leyburn Grove
Houghton Town 0v3 Guisborough Town HC
Wearside League
Wednesday 12th August 2009

Ambitious club Houghton Town took the step up from the Durham Alliance and along with Scarborough Town are this season’s newcomers to the Wearside League.
The club formed as recently as 2006, originally as The Board Inn FC, playing in the Wearside Combination League for two seasons, before a successful season as the renamed Sunderland South FC last season.
The club is based in Houghton-le-Spring, a small town approximately 6 miles south-west of Sunderland town centre.
Home matches are played at Leyburn Grove which is part of the Houghton Sports Complex. The pitch is in the far corner of the cricket field, fenced off with eight sets of beanpole floodlights and a set of ‘site safe’ fold away dugouts.
The clubhouse is the Houghton CW pavilion with a separate changing room block, both found at the main entrance next to the car park, where access is gained at the bottom of the housing estate.

Houghton Town made their Wearside League debut the previous Saturday with a 2-0 home victory over Coxhoe Athletic, but unfortunately were unable to continue their winning start against Guisborough Town HC, their opponents enjoying a comfortable 3-0 success.
The visitors took an early lead when Sharkey got on the end of a free kick, finishing with a fine volley from close range, he then doubled their lead five minutes before the break, his shot taking a slight deflection giving the goalkeeper no chance.
Houghton’s best chances came in the second half, a couple of free kicks from the edge of the box going narrowly wide, then on 76 minutes they were awarded a penalty after a handball incident.
After a lengthy delay due to strong Guisborough protests which resulted in the referee dishing out a few yellow cards, Matthew Raine eventually stepped up only to see Guisborough’s keeper pull off a fantastic save to retain their two goal lead.
The match was finished as a contest five minutes from time, Sharkey got on the end of a left wing cross to complete his hat-trick and secure the away victory.

Houghton Town also have access to the FIFA approved 3G pitch at Houghton Keiper Sports College, which is floodlit and available during bad weather. So I may be revisiting Houghton Town again at another ground during the winter months.
Matchday stats
HTFC 0 GTHC 3(Sharkey 10,40,85)
Admission £2
Programme £1
Att. 33(H.C.)

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224.Grayfields Enclosure
Hartlepool FC 1v2 Annfield Plain
Wearside League
Wednesday 2nd September 2009

Hartlepool origins began in the 1980’s playing in a local church league initially as the Fens Hotel and then under the name of Arriva FC.
The club moved on to the Teesside League, winning cup honours and the Second Division title under the new name of Teesside Arriva.
On the eve of the 2004-05 season the club became Hartlepool FC, going on to win the Teesside League and the Durham Trophy that season, the move to the Wearside League came in 2006-07.

Grayfields Enclosure is a large area of playing fields on the outskirts of the town, the complex has several pitches, including an all weather surface.
Access to the main pitch is via the pavilion, where you walk through the building’s reception, then along the corridor passing the changing rooms and like the players and staff you gain entry to the pitch through a set of double doors, where a couple of young lads are waiting to take your admission money.

The game with Annfield Plain was played in good spirit, with no nasty tackles and the referee not receive too much stick, a rarity indeed.
Annfield took the lead in the first half when a 25 yard shot from Gordon went in off the post. That lead was extended on 68 minutes when Henderson latched on to a through ball, the keeper saved the initial shot but the rebound fell kindly for him to knock the ball into an empty net.
Hartlepool halved the deficit a few minutes later with a well placed shot from Ross, shooting past the keeper into the far corner from a tight angle wide on the left.
Annfield finished the game more stronger, looking more likely to extend their lead than concede an equaliser.
Then on 80 minutes the referee blew the whistle and called both captains together. It had been raining for most of the day and dark rain clouds meant the visibility was getting worse.
As Grayfields has no floodlights facilities, the referee and both skippers decided to play five more minutes instead of the allotted ten. A desperate last five minutes saw no further goals but Annfield Plain deserving their victory on the number of chances created over the 85 minutes.
The match kicked off five minutes later than the scheduled 6.30pm start, due to the Annfield Plain team turning up late, so if they had of been on time there wouldn’t have been such a problem, so maybe in the end they may have benefited by their late show.
Matchday stats
HFC 1(Ross 70) APFC 2(Henderson 28, Gordon 68)
Admission £1.50
Programme:none
Att. 28(H.C.)

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230. Gurney Street
New Marske 1v3 Ryhope CW
Wearside League
Saturday 24th October 2009

New Marske is a village in the borough of Redcar and Cleveland. The village was originally a miners settlement, having a cluster of miners terraced houses, with the old mine works found nearby in Errington Woods.
New Marske Sports Club became members of the Wearside League in 1998-99 season, finishing runners-up in the newly reformed Division Two in their debut season.
The clubs most successful season to date was in 2007-08, winning the league title with only two defeats in 36 games and scoring 120 goals. They also added the Monkwearmouth Cup and I was in attendance to see them completing the treble, when winning the Wearside League Cup at Wolviston.

The Gurney Street ground is found at the beginning(or end - depending which way you came) of the village. The New Marske Sports Club is situated in the car park, the spacious lounge bar looks out onto the pitch.
The players changing rooms annex the clubhouse next to a separate building for the match officials, which also has a refreshment bar. The home dugouts are also on the nearside with some partial hard standing. The other three sides are grass banks with the away dugout opposite, from here you can see panaramic views of the North Sea, covering the coastline from Redcar down to Marske.
The club have ambitions to eventually step up to the Northern League. Planning permission has been giving to develop the ground and install floodlights, but unfortunately the much needed grant from the FA is currently on hold.
New Marske’s opponents Ryhope CW have had a fantastic start to the season, winning 10 and drawing one of 12 games, however this still isn’t enough to claim top spot, leaders Scarborough Town have a two point lead winning 11 from 12.
Ryhope dominated the game but found themselves in the unfortunate position of trailing at half time. Looking at the New Marske players, I think you need to be at least six foot tall to get a game. The goal coming from the big number eleven Michael Mackin just before the interval, nodding the ball high into the top corner after a good cross from the overlapping right-back.

Ryhope took control early in the second half. Butler equalised chipping the goalkeeper with a nice finish and then Jordan rounded the keeper to make it 2-1 in the 54th minute.
New Marske were giving an opportunity to equalise. A free kick from the edge of the box was blocked and adjudged as a handball. Howe stepped up and young keeper Atkinson made a terrific save, diving low to his left to palm the ball out for a corner.
Ryhope were finally guaranteed the three points on 71 minutes, Butler beating the offside trap before nonchalantly knocked the ball past the keeper, his manager’s half time prediction of a 3-1 win proving to be correct.

Footnote; This win for Ryhope, coupled with Scarborough Town's suprising 3-5 home defeat to Kirbymoorside saw them leapfrog them into top spot.

Matchday stats

NMFC 1(M.Mackin 42) RCW 3(Butler 49,71 Jordan 54)
Admission £2 - which included programme and a raffle ticket for the half time meat draw.
Att. 46(H.C.)

Wearside League Wanderings - part three

197 - Beechfield Park
Coxhoe Athletic 1v2 Teesside Athletic
Shipowners Charity Cup Round 2
3rd January 2009

Coxhoe Athletic played in the Durham Alliance before joining the Wearside League in 2004-05, they’re located in a small village in County Durham, a few miles south of Durham city. Coxhoe is situated just off the Durham services on the A1 motorway, with the ground easy to find, found at the beginning of the village.
Since I started the Wearside League Wanderings series, Beechfield Park has became one of my favourites so far. Imagine any suburban street in Britain, amongst the rows of houses and gardens there’s always one home that stands out amongst the others. The lawn is always cut to perfection, the picket fence always looks like it’s just had a fresh lick of paint, there’s no litter or straggly weeds to be seen, everything is spotless and lovingly cared for by it’s owner, or as in this case the groundsman, as this is the football ground equivalent of the best garden in the street.
The ground is built on top of a hill, just off the main road and over a grass verge, with a few steps leading to its entrance, where a gentleman is waiting to take your admission money. At this side is a diminutive shelter, put together with green congregated iron with a red peaked roof, decked out with a leather bench seat. At the far side is a similar structure but slightly larger and again the seating is the leather benched variety. The main stand is known as the Purvis Stand, this is parallel with the half way line and has three rows of red flip seats, with the dugouts situated at either side and a disabled area next to it. Downstairs behind the stand is a canteen and refreshment bar, changing rooms and toilet block, the ground is complete with a green perimeter fence and has hard standing all round.
This match was in the Shipowners Charity Cup, one of the three knockout competitions in the Wearside League. Teesside took a stranglehold on the game midway through the first half with two goals in the space of three minutes. The first came when a long throw in, caused a scramble in the penalty area, with Drazdauskas coming up trumps to toe poke the ball home. Minutes later a corner kick was played out to left-back Lochren on the edge of the box, whose fine first time effort sailed high into the net.
Coxhoe started the second half in need of an early goal to get themselves back into the game and to make the match more interesting to us neutrals. That’s exactly what happened, as Sheridan scored with a fine individual effort from the edge of the box only five minutes after the restart.
The goal gave the Coxhoe side a huge lift, as they pushed for an equaliser, although Teesside always looked dangerous on the counter attack. The home side thought they had clinched that decisive goal but it was controversially chalked off for offside, this was their best chance as the visitors defended well throughout and comfortably seen out the game to book a place in the next round.
I found Beechfield Park a smashing little ground, it’s obvious to any casual visitors that the park is lovingly cherished, so I must give a special mention to groundsman Stan and the staff at Coxhoe for making this venue such a gem.
Matchday stats
CAFC 1 (Sheridan 50) TAFC (Drazdauskas 22, Lochren 24)
Att 58 (HC)
Admission £1.50
Programme: none

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207 - Harton Colliery Welfare Ground
Wearside League 1v2 Cambridgeshire County League
FA National Systems Cup - Preliminary Round
28th March 2009

This ground is a bit of a bonus for me, Harton Colliery Welfare was a venue I thought I missed out on, after the grounds residents - South Shields Harton & Westoe, resigned from the league back in September. The club were members of the Wearside League from 1994 with a best season finish of 5th of 20 clubs in 2000-01.
The venue played hosts to a Wearside League select team in the FA National League Systems Cup, a competition for league representative sides further down the pyramid, with the cup winners rewarded with a place in Europe, representing the country in the UEFA Regions Cup.

The league’s opponents were the Cambridgeshire County League, and despite a very strong wind the match was a very entertaining game, with both sides representing their respective leagues with pride.
Cambridgeshire took the lead in the 18th minute, a great through ball found the big centre forward Mhishi, who stayed onside before going round the keeper then unselfishly squaring the ball to Joey Abbs, his team mate from Fulbourn Institute FC, who was left with a simple tap into an empty net. That goal looked like being the difference between the two sides at the break, but with the very last kick of the half, New Marske striker Rob Jones’s ‘daisy cutter’ effort from 20 yards out, made it level at the interlude.
The second half was played in similar fashion, a very open affair with no prisoners taking in the tackling stakes, with the referee making decisions that frustrated both sets of players.
As a neutral I though Cambs looked the better side and more likely to clinch the winning goal, this they did in the 74th minute, sub Johnny Bridgeman latched on to a through ball and placed the ball wide of the keeper at the far post to send the travelling hordes (well about a dozen of them) home happy on their long journey back south.
Harton Collery Welfare has a covered terrace at the far side, approximately three-quarters pitch length with both dugouts at the front and four beanpole floodlights in each corner. Admission and match programme is obtained by the Welfare building, which is used as changing rooms with also houses a spacious bar and refreshment facilities, the complex also has a cricket pitch, bowling green and all-weather 5-a-side pitches.
I’m unaware of any plans for Harton & Westoe to reform, although there’s always the possibility of a new club setting up in this part of Shields and using the Welfare as their home, which seems more likely as I can’t imagine this ground and facilities going to waste for too long.

Matchday stats
WLg 1 (Jones 45+2) CCLg 2(Abbs 18, Johnny Bridgeman 74)
Att. 65(HC)
Admission £2
Programme £1
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208 - Silksworth Welfare Park
Ashbrooke Belford House 1v1 Windscale
Wearside League
8th April 2009

Ashbrooke Belford House have played in the Wearside League since last season, after stepping up from the Durham Alliance. Home matches are played in Silksworth, which lies approximately three miles south-east of sunderland town centre, ground sharing with fellow Wearside League club Silksworth Community FC at Silksworth Welfare Park.
The park has a war memorial, bowling green, bandstand and children’s playground, with the park pitch brought up to the standard ground requirements, which is fully enclosed with four floodlight pylons at each side, changing rooms, outside bog and a set of anti-vandal cupboard-type-dugouts, the same type as they have at Ryhope CW.
Asbrooke played hosts to Windscale, who took the lead after 38 minutes, somewhat against the run of play when the best player on view Adam Lamb (or “Dazzler” to his team mates) ran on to a through ball and caught out the keeper, by taking his shot first time from outside the box.
The second half saw Asbrooke apply much of the pressure, equalising just past the hour mark when Benson picked the ball out wide before cutting inside from the right and smashing a left foot shot, giving to goalie no chance.
One thing I noticed was the home dugout was fully occupied with playing staff, while the away section was empty with just the Windscale manager standing in front, meaning only twelve travelled over from Cumbria, the 11 players and the gaffer, no subs or physio, just enough to fill three cars, so well done to them on such a good performance and entertaining game with a draw probably a fair result.

update - posted from 'Falcon' on Non-League Zone;

Enjoyed your view on the Belford House v Windscale game, I assume it was you who asked the lone Windscale man ( me ) in the dugout about our goalscorer, well for your information it was the Windscale secretary in the dugout as the management team were unable to travel for the first time ever due to work. Also with so many injured players at the moment we did well to travel with the team we had and thought we were good value for a point and could even have snatched it at the end.

I look forward to seeing you in West Cumbria :-)

Matchday stats
ABH 1(Benson 62) WFC 1 (Lamb 38)
Att. 19 (HC)
Admission and programme: none