FULL NELSON WARNING TO LEAGUE CHALLENGERS
Sunderland West End manager Anthony Nelson sent out a warning to the rest of the Wearside League after his side’s 5-1 win at Gateshead Leam Rangers.
A Lee Smith hat-trick and a goal apiece for Adam Drysdale and Kieron Martin helped Nelson’s side continue their recent improvement but the West End boss believes that there is still more to come from his players.
Nelson said: “We were excellent and we dominated the game from start to finish.
“They are one of those teams that we do tend to struggle against, but we just bossed the game.
“If we are honest, we haven’t really hit the standards we set last season.
“We have only really played well in two games; the first game of the season against Silksworth and on Saturday against Leam Rangers.
“There is more to come, we will get better and we will hit the standard that we know we can.”
Horden CW claimed their third Wearside League win of the season as they overcame Annfield Plain.
A first-half brace from Liam Appleby was added to after the interval by a Matty Pattison strike as Horden completed a 3-0 win at Derwent Park.
There was late drama as Silksworth CW exited the TWR Shipowners Cup with a defeat at Richmond Town.
Harry Munday looked to have forced the first round tie into a penalty shoot-out when his last-minute goal cancelled out Martin Butterworth’s goal just a minute earlier.
But there was a sting in the tail for Silksworth as Kallum Hollbrook crashed home a 25-yard free-kick in the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Silksworth coach Michael Curtis admitted that his side had been second best, but praised their improvement after a lacklustre first-half.
“We changed a few things at half-time and we asked for more work-rate,” explained Curtis.
“The lads responded and we started to improve. We were creating chances and we reacted so well to falling behind to a set-piece, which we looked like doing all game.
“They’ve won it with a great free-kick and it has left us frustrated coming so late in the game.
“Richmond deserved the win, we can’t having any complaints about that.”
There was a ten-goal thriller in the preliminary round of the same competition.
Junior Musandi and Stewart Bath both scored twice for Wolviston and Matty Garnder and Jackson Waller did the same for Hartlepool FC are their sides played out a remarkable 5-5 draw.
But it was Hartlepool that made it through to the First Round with a 4-2 win in the shoot-out.
Darlington Town Reserves progressed into the first round of the Total Sport Alan Hood Charity Cup with a penalty shoot-out win at in-form Harton and Westoe CW.
The two sides played out a 1-1 draw in normal time, but it was the visitors that were victorious with a 5-3 win on penalties.
Ryan Bolam scored twice to help league leaders Hebburn Town Reserves to a 4-1 home win against Darlington RA in the first round of the same competition.
Coxhoe Athletic finally secured their first win of the season as two goals from Stephen Clifford and one each for Scott Young and Ben Foster gave them a 5-1 win over West Auckland Tunns in the Monkwearmouth Charity Cup preliminary round.