74 THE CHRONICLE THURSDAY, MARCH 6,201

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No sign of Division One leaders Shil losing their Bottle

Baptistteam inseventhheavenTHIRD-BOflOM Morpeth Baptist Church beatbasement side St Peter’sLow Fell 7-2 in the PremierDivision.

Michael Howson andDavid Fleming notchedfor the Fell.

Baptist Church nettedthrough John Packer (3),Ryan Jenson, Man Tannery and Clark Gunn tomove up a place in thetable.

In Division One, Stockton Church Unitedreturned to winning wayswith a 2-I success againstSt John’s Snod’s Edge.

Luke Brannen put Stockton in front before DuncanMcCulloch equalised forSaints

In the 87th minuteFarma Jatta grabbed thewinner for the Teessiders.

Newcastle Christian LifeCentre netted three second-half goals throughEric Siqueros, John Linesand Thomas Boffi to triumph 3-0 over Beech-wood Eden Easterside.

Neil Garlick, Ryan Lansley and James Cleave

• notched in the first half forChrist Church Durham atInfluence CorinthiansRichmond.

Influence hit backthrough Joe Arundell butCleave added his secondand Josh Gill netted asChrist Church ran out 5-1victors.

In the League Cup,North Shields ChristChurch took a 1-0 halftime lead courtesy of TomEastlake over ConsettSaint Patricks.

Tom Lavendar was onthe mark twice and AndyMurray and Gary Charltonthen scored as Consettmoved into a 4-1 lead.

Andy Sword and KrisRoss reduced the deficitfor Shields, but Saints heldon to win and now visitJesmond Parish Church inthe last eight.

Jesmond Parish Churchtrounced YAV SIFF 9-0.

• On target for the Tynesiders were Dean Allsopp(2), Dan Greaves (4) , WillWard (2) and Mick Henderson.

Holders Stockton Portrack beat St Bede’s Bedlington 5-1.

SHILBOflLE CW continue tolead the way in Division One

Four goals from Josh Hay, twoby Liam Brooks and strikes fromRyan Douglas and StephenShendon saw them beat Tweed-mouth Harrow, whose tworeplies were scored by AndyBurgon and Jordan Richardson.

A Danny Johnson finish wasenough to give Bamburgh thewin against Springhill.

THREE rising rugby stars are setto play for the England Studentssquad against Wales tomorrownight.

Back row Will Witty, fly-halfGeorge Cullen and winger JoeBeckett head to Oxford University for the 7.30 showdown.

Tom Wilkinson, director ofrugby at Newcastle University,said: “I am delighted for thethree of them to-b~seIected.

“They are three of the hardestworking players in our set-upand are all guys the other lads inthe squad look up to.

“Joe in particular has workedso hard for three seasons andhas captained us for two years.

“It is a well-overdue call-upbut I will be over the moon to seehim win a cap.

“Newcastle University RugbyClub are moving in the rightdirection and the players are ahuge part of that:’

Debutant Christopher Coeand Sam Proudlock were theRothbury marksmen as theyshared the points with NorthSunderland, whose goalscorerswere Neil Macfarlane and ChrisHay.

In Division Two, a Shaun Toalfinish and strikes from JohnMowbray, Stephen Watson,

UNIVERSITY RUGBY

Beckett, 21, is looking forwardto his first start with the whiteshirt.

He said: “I am hugely thanlcful for the opportunity to play formy country and I am glad I havebeen given the thance to showwhat I can do.

“I expect to have a hugely successflil game, as I know the teamaround me and I know boys whocan deliver big performances,which will hopefully pay off:’

Beckett, from Horsham, WestSussex, added: “There is nothbig better than stepping up withgreat players..

“Witty is a potential stat He isa Yorkshire lad who is the size ofa house.

“Cullen is an outstanding flyhalt with more flair than any NolOlhaveplayedwith.

“I have played with him for

NTH/LAND LEAGUE

Harry Woolhouse, Lee Pattinson and Daniel Scott saw CrasterRovers to a comfortable winagainst Hedgeley Rovers, whosesingle reply came from a PatrickGritton own goal.

In the Runclman Cup, BradMcLelland netted a hat-trick inthe win over Duns while Wansbeck netted five times without

three years and playing next toone of your close mates makes Itthat little bit more special:’

Witty, 18, is joining EnglandStudents after an impressive debut performance which helpedEngland Under-18s triumph23-3 over Australia Schools lastDecember in London.

He said: “I am really thrilledand.excited about the invite.

“After playing in the gameagainst Australia it has made mewant to play more representativerugby.

“The experience of playingagainst such a huge rugby nationwas great and I enjoyed it.

“Representing your country isreally exciting but to do it withsome of your team-mates fromNewcastle makes it even more ofa special occasion.”

Cullen, 20 and from Hertfordshire, is determined to make animpact for England Students,and

reply in a win at WoolerReserves.

Paul Wood notched twice forLowick United as they put sixpast Embleton WR and JuddDonohoe scored twice asAinmouth United beat Lynemouth Anglers.

A Sean Palmer counter wasnot enough as Red Row Welfarelost out to AFC Newbiggin in theNFA Minor Cup semi-finals.

is expecting to face an aggressiveWelsh side in what he believeswill be a tough test on a personallevel and for the team.

He said: “I am really excitedabout the opportunity.

“It is something I had as anaim at the start of the season soto have made it is great.

“It will be a great honour torepresent England and I justcannot wait to get stuck in.

“Wales will provide tough opposition as always, so it will beimportant we all come togetherwell as a group7

England will be looking tomake the most of their first fixture on home soil in what is thelast fully-capped game of the series before they take on Scotlandin a development game.

Tomorrow’s game comes inthe wake of a 39-10 defeat toFrance Universities and a 30-16win over Portugal.

• COUNDON and Leeholmtriumphed 5-1 at EbchesteConsett Reserves in the Duiham Alliance League.

Scorers for Coundon werChristopher Howe, Daniel KenJohn Cunningham, Martin Houlahan and Scott Hassle, IsPeacock for Ebchester.

Andrew Hope hit the on!goal to give Sherburn Village1-0 win at Coxhoe United.

Heed gelstick offwinnersPrestonHOCKEY

GATESHEAI) Firsts werdown fighting as they 1w5-3 to Premier Divisio.side Preston.

The first half was aeven affair as both teamstruggled to forge manchances.

Preston were theawarded a dubious penalty corner, which they ptaway neatly to take a 1-lead.

This seamed to rattlGateshead as Prestoturned the screw and tooadvantage to increase theilead with a cool reversestick finish.

As the game lookedbe sliding away from thTynesiders’ reach, a DayCarruthers goal fromnarrow angle pulled bacthe scoreline to 2-1.

As the game progressePreston formation starteto show cracks and theiconfidence was noticeabldented as Gatesheapushed forward.

It was Gateshead’s ChriTraynor’s step on to thdefender to steal the baon the edge of the circland smash homeareversestick shot which levellethe score at 2-2 at halitime.

The second period waagain an even affair beforGateshead’s Mike Whitmade the Preston defencpay for their mistakes ahe slotted the ball Into thbottom corner.

Preston levelled on thcounter attack.

Mart Collins and captatJervis Fleming were thecontroversially sin-binnefor questioning an umpbing decision over a free Kaward.

This totally changed thpattern of the game, givinPreston the upper handwhichtheytookfulladvaxitage of with two furthegoals to seal victory.

V

On England duty tomorrow night are Newcastle University rugby trio Joe Beckett (left), WillWitty (centre) and George Cullen (inset)

Student honours goto cityfls England trio

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