626. Swan
Recreation Ground
Newcastle East End 0-6
Cullercoats
Northern Alliance Division One
Saturday 11th August 2018 (2.30pm
ko)
Newcastle East End FC are an
official registered charity, a NIKE Partner and FA Charter Standard Community
Club based in Walkergate. The club was formed in 1995 with just a single junior
team and now operate with over 40 teams and 650 members at all age groups with
both male and female players.
The senior team joined the
Northern Alliance in the middle of last season, switching over from Monkseaton,
who in turn took over Lindisfarne Custom Planet. They joined the Northern
Alliance Division Two from the Tyneside Amateur League in 2014 and won promotion
in their debut season, before moving to Monkseaton in 2016.
The Swan Recreation Ground is a
huge plot of land with four full size football pitches with good facilities.
The ground has plenty of signs up, displaying the East End club name and crest,
with the senior team playing on the far side pitch which runs parallel with the
Metro line.
East End suffered a heavy defeat
by Cullercoats on the opening day of the season. The visitors took the lead
just before the half hour mark when a saved effort from Rui was followed in by
Graham Williams, before Carl Paterson headed home from a corner-kick just
before halftime.
The Doves commanded the second
half, increasing their lead when Chrissy Connor slid in a right wing cross,
quickly followed by Eamon Nugent-Doyle latching on to a threaded through ball,
before rounding the ‘keeper and finishing with confidence. They rounded
off a cracking display which a chip shot by Williams and also a second goal for
Paterson, capitalising on some slack marking to bring up the half dozen.
Matchday Stats
NEEFC 0
CFC 6(Williams 28,65 Paterson 40,70 Connor 50 Nugent-Doyle 60)
Att.18hc
627.
Bedlingtonshire Community High School(4G)
Bedlington FC 5-0 Hexham
Northern Alliance Division One
Wednesday 15th August 2018
(6.30pm ko)
Bedlington FC are largest
football club in the town, with a voluntarily run chartered standard junior
teams for girls and boys. The senior side joined the Northern Alliance in 2017,
when I saw them record a convincing win at Forest Hall in the League Cup . They
looked a good side on that afternoon and I knew they would win promotion, going
up after a fourth place finish in Division Two last season.
The club have moved grounds this
season from Gallagher Park to Bedlington High School, using the 4G pitch, which
is a standard cage affair, having one side of hard standing with the team
dugouts opposite.
Following on from a 5-2 opening
day away win at Gosforth Bohemian, Bedlington again went nap with a convincing
win over Hexham. After a tight start to the game, the hosts took the lead with
the first bit of real quality, when a superb right wing cross was met with a
bullet header from Andrew McLennan on 31 minutes.
Before the break they doubled the
lead when McLennan burst through the away defence to slot home his second.
After the restart they quickly extended their advantage, when Sheldon White
latched onto a through ball to fire home.
McLennan completed his hat-trick
on 67 minutes when a fierce shot from 20 yards rattled off the underside of the
crossbar and over the line, before he grabbed his fourth and Bedlington’s fifth
from the penalty-spot after a handball incident. So a good start for Bedlington, two wins and ten goals and looking good for back-to-back promotions, even at this early stage of the season
Matchday Stats
BFC 5(McLennan 38,44,67,78pen
White 49)
HFC 0
Att.15hc
629. Axwell View
Winlaton Vulcans 5-1 Cullercoats
Northern Alliance Division One
Wednesday 22nd August 2018
(6.15pm ko)
Winlaton is a village situated in the west end of the
Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead, The village was once the centre of the local
steel industry, when Ambrose Crowley moved there in 1691 to set up furnaces and
forges on the River Derwent at Winlaton Mill and Swalwell. Crowley produced
high-quality nails, pots, hinges, wheel-hubs, hatchets and edged tools. He also
made heavy forgings, such as chains, pumps, cannon carriages and anchors up to
four tons in weight. The Crowley works were regarded as the largest
manufacturer of its kind in Europe and the gates for Buckingham Palace were
also forged in Winlaton.
Winlaton Vulcans joined the
Northern Alliance last season taking over Ryton & Crawcrook Albion “A”who
joined from the Tyneside Amateur League in 2016. Last season a third place
finish in Division Two guaranteed promotion to this higher level.
Winlaton has previously hosted
Northern Alliance football. Winlaton Hallgarth played in the league between
1989 and 1995, with thirteen consecutive seasons in the Premier Division, while
Winlaton Queens Head made a brief appearance, playing for two seasons in the
mid-eighties.
Axwell View is found at the top
of Shibdon Bank, which offers great panoramic views of Tyneside, running along
the suburbs in the west end of Newcastle, towards the city centre and up the
bank towards Sheriff Hill in Gateshead. Winlaton Vulcans RFC are the main
tenants at Axwell View, with both rugby and football pitches behind the
clubhouse, the pitch is roped off on a lower level from the rugger ground.
Cullercoats followed up that
opening day route, with two 5-1 victories to give them maximum points from
three games. For the third match running it was a 5-1 scoreline, but this time
they were on the receiving end after a ace performance from the Vulcans.
They took the lead after just 70
seconds when Kieran Barker fired in from close range, and doubled their lead at
the end of the half, when a right wing corner was met by a terrific diving
header from Matty Baldwin.
Baldwin grabbed his second in the
53rd minute, again heading home from a corner kick, before Cullercoats got on
the scoresheet when the right-back broke forward and fired home from the edge
of the box.
As the visitors pushed for a
second the hosts broke forward, with a breakaway goal started and finished by
Derek Waters, with just over ten minutes remaining. The victory was sealed late
on when Liam Henderson converted a penalty, with the only dampener coming in
the final minute, when Waters received his second yellow card for dissent.
Matchday Stats
WVFC 5(Barker 2 Baldwin 44,53
Waters 79 Henderson 87pen)
CFC 1 (TBC 60)
Att.27hc
Bedale came
to worldwide attention following the launch of a new strip as part of the
sponsorship deal. Last season the club wore a shirt with a sausage covered
design, but this season they’ve outdone themselves with a jersey featuring a
large hot dog in a bun with a double helix of ketchup and mustard. The numbers
on the back of their shirts are made out of sausage shapes and sit below the
slogan 'You'll Never Pork Alone' The new shirts also features the Prostate
Cancer logo, as the club carry out regular charity work for ‘Team Garbyan’ an
online fundraising page set up following the death of their friend Steve
Garbett from prostate cancer in 2014. So far they’ve raised over £144,000 for
Prostate Cancer UK, with 25% of online shirt sales going to the charity. 
Bedale is a leisurely one hour
drive down the A1. I picked up Lee & Katie on route and arrived at the
ground to be greeted by Facebook legend John McClure, who had travelled up from
York for the game with his better half Hilary. We were a bit disappointed to
find out that the home team were wearing their traditional yellow and green
colours instead of the hot dog kit, but I did get a picture of last season’s
sausage job, the shirt they adorned last season when they were North Riding
Division One champions. 
Matchday Stats
