MASONS STILL HAVE CUP HOPE
Jackson Anderson Accountants Spennymoor Sunday League
MASONS ARMS kept their silverware hopes alive with a League Cup quarter-final win over Belvedere.
Masons, already knocked out of the Division One Cup and B&A Trophy earlier this season, have resigned themselves to not lifting the championship after four league defeats has left them 12 points adrift of leaders Thorns.
So this League Cup victory represents a valuable breakthrough for the team that last season lifted the Division Two Cup and the B&A Trophy.
Now they face a semi-final tie with either Hunwick or Croxdale to earn a final place.
“It’s great to get through,” said Secretary John Booth “We didn’t play particularly well and it was a bit of a grind. They dug in and we have had to battle for it – it was two pieces of individual brilliance by Peter Kerr and Justin Fox that really divided the two teams. We’re out of the race for the first division title now so it was important to get through to the semi-finals.”
Kevin Dodds and Kevin Sweeney were on target for Masons, along with Kerr and Fox, while the other quarter-final tie between Hunwick and Croxdale was postponed.
The semi-finals, due to be played on 3rd April, consist of: Tudhoe United v Voltigeur or Binchester SC and Masons Arms v Hunwick or Croxdale.
Binchester, meanwhile, booked themselves a B&A Trophy semi-final tie at Hunwick Joiners thanks to a 5-1 win over Horndale in the quarters last Sunday.
John Wheatley (2), Chris Pickles, Paul Foster and Greg Robinson were on target for Binny, with Dale Anderson getting Horndale’s goal.
The semi-finals of the B&A Trophy, which are due to be played this Sunday (20th March), now consist of: Old Shildon v Thorns and Hunwick v Binchester SC.
Eldon Arms maintained their Division Two title challenge with a 7-1 home win over Gainford last week.
Andrew Sams (3), Jonathan Corner (2), David Leary and David Hall were all on target, and Secretary David Sayers says his side just have to keep winning their games to keep up the pressure on Binchester.
“That’s all we can do,” he said. “We’re conscious that mid-week games are coming up soon and we’re not sure what kind of teams we’ll be able to put out, so it’s important to just keep picking up points and keeping the pressure on Binchester, who have games in hand over us.”
Elsewhere in Division Two, Ash Tree won 2-1 at North Briton with goals by Steven Bowen and Glyn Porter, while Victoria won 6-0 at Cumby Arms thanks to goals by Jason Greenland (3), Marc Nelson, James Smith and John Temple.
Green Tree were 5-3 winners at Atlantic Bar.
In Division One last week, Lakeside won their second successive game with a 4-3 victory over the Grand thanks to goals by Wayne Marram (2), Marc De Lucia and Dave Welsh, while Thorns continued their title challenge with a 4-2 win over Voltigeur. Ian Woodhall (2), Craig Brown and Andrew Richardson scored for Thorns.
Salvins and Browney drew 1-1.
• The next league meeting will take place at Croxdale WMC on Wednesday 6th April from 8pm.
• The league’s end-of-season presentation night will be held at Old Shildon WMC on Friday 27th May. Trophy-awarding will be followed by entertainment at the night, and clubs will be required to purchase tickets. More details to follow.
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