A GOAL three minutes into injury time denied former professional Bobby Howe in his first game in charge of Hexham .

Pushing on for a winner themselves against the 10 men of newly promoted Felling Magpies, their work was undone with a last gasp decider for the hosts.

An under pressure Felling had resorted to long clearances in an attempt to alleviate the wave of attacks, and one proved dangerous as James Fenwick ran onto it to slide the winner past goalkeeper Sean Heads.

It was a hammer blow for Howe‘s Hexham who were on top throughout the second period, looking good value to overturn a half time deficit gifted through Fenwick’s header on 24 minutes.

With changes made at the break, Hexham did all of the attacking with Steven Coates and Lewis Loughhead posing all sorts of problems on the flanks.

Hexham had to cope with numerous hard challenges from their hosts and the referee finally had enough with 15 minutes to go when he reduced the Magpies to 10 men.

The extra man tipped the balance in the Tynedale side‘s favour, and they needed just five minutes to capitalise as Coates powered his way through the defence to score from a tight angle following great work from Thomas North.

Felling’s backs were to the wall for the final 10 minutes with teenagers Callum Duncan and George Ridley coming close until Fenwick‘s second goal broke their hearts late on.

It was plain sailing for Division One rivals Ponteland United who thumped Wallsend Boys’ Club 7-1.

On the back of a positive pre-season which included the capture of the Clayton Charity Cup, they went into the new campaign full of confidence and they gained the lead after 15 minutes when Rory Spencer fired home from close range after central defensive partner Peter Scott headed against the crossbar.

Things turned nasty 10 minutes later as Wallsend were reduced to 10 men, Adam Tierney headbutting Stevie Rae which forced him to be replaced by Billy Holden.

Pont were happy to take advantage of the extra man and made it 2-0 on 35 minutes, Holden finishing off a flowing move between Ethan Bewley and Ryan Potts. They were four goals to the good 10 minutes after the restart, Wallsend’s Kieran Tubman putting into his own net trying to stop a Zac Bewley cross moments before teenager Ethan Bewley found the back of the net.

Holden headed home his second to make it five before Wallsend got a consolation through a Daniel Hindmarch penalty after Pont goalkeeper Darren Bowey-Tyler brought down John Wyres in the area. Yet United went storming to the top of the table as Zac Bewley netted twice late on, lobbing the goalkeeper for 6-1 before rounding things off with a tap in following the unselfishness of substitute Toy Spratt.

Prudhoe YC Seniors‘ first outing since their formation in the summer couldn’t have been any tougher as they travelled to a Gateshead A side featuring two teenagers who both signed up on professional terms for the club‘s National League side, and Jack Elliott, who left Carlisle United last season.

And their debut in Division Two went as predicted, title favourites Gateshead showing their class by winning 6-1.

The Prudhoe centre back pairing of Sam Brown and Danny Driver coped well with Gateshead prospect Mechak Kanda early on, but Elliott, who occasionally plays for the Youth Club’s futsal team, pulled the strings and notched twice within the opening 20 minutes.

Prudhoe dug in and remained in the game, and their efforts were rewarded just before half time when the lively Adam Greenwood was crudely brought down on the edge of the area after beating a couple of opponents. While Gateshead keeper Kieran Proctor organised his wall, the quick thinking Paddy Finnerty drilled the ball low into the net to be credited with his side’s first ever goal.

Their hopes of getting anything from the game were sharp dashed after the break as Gateshead added three goals within 15 minutes of the second half, with the sixth and final goal coming in the 75th minute.

Wallington‘s Premier Division campaign got off to a sour start as uncharacterisitc errors resulted in them shipping three goals without reply to Seaton Delaval Amateurs.

Hexham responded in spectacular fashion in midweek with braces from Kurtis Harvey and Marc Nixon, and a single from Tom North earning them a 5-1 win over Cullercoats. Prudhoe YC Seniors shared four goals with Grainger Park Boys’ Club, Adam Greenwood and Scott Brown on target.

Ponteland were thumped 6-1 by Shilbottle CW and Wallington lost 2-0 to Blyth Town.