PONTELAND United retained the Clayton Charity Cup with a comprehensive victory over Ryton and Crawcrook Albion's A team.

Three goals did the damage against a young Albion side who will start up in the Northern Alliance this year, United showing why they are tipped to push for the Division One title next May.

They created chance after chance in a dominant display, and the scoreline would have been higher had it not been for a wonderful performance from Ryton's teenage goalkeeper Andrew Wright who deservedly picked up the man of the match award.

His positional sense and his communication skills were just as impressive as his shot stopping abilities. There was one particular save in the first half which had the entire crowd baffled, somehow getting across to block Alex Benjamin's tap-in after being at the other side of the goal when the shot came in.

Yet, ultimately, he couldn't do anything to prevent Ponteland's attacking threat, the home team making their dominance count to add to the trophy they won when beating Heddon St Andrew's in 2015.

Benjamin, who gave United a slight glimmer of promotion at the back end of last season while banging them in on a regular basis, had the game's opening opportunity just three minutes in, but he would have been disappointed to head wide Jack L'Argent's cross when unmarked in front of goal.

It was all one-way traffic in the first half, and Benjamin was played clear by Reece Havelock-Brown and hit a low shot which was well saved by the impressive Wright.

Ponteland full back Chris Rue was second in line for the man of the match accolade with an assured performance defensively, but he came close to opening the scoring when he hit a long range effort just over.

On 20 minutes, a flowing move cut Ryton open and the usually potent Benjamin had a tap in at the back post but was spectacularly kept out by the agile Wright.

The young stopper was in inspirational form and got the faintest of touches to deny Rue 10 minutes later, moments after another great stop from Gary Cook who had cut in from the right. From the resulting corner, Ryton survived a strong penalty appeal when the ball bounced up and onto the hand of Chris Henderson.

The prolific Benjamin looked the most likely to break the deadlock and he was presented with a gift with the last action of the last half.

Ryton defender Connor Jacques tried to clear a ball under pressure from Havelock-Brown when the easy option was to stroke it back to Wright, but he presented it straight to the Ponteland midfielder who quickly found Benjamin in acres of space to coolly chip the ball over the keeper.

Ryton weren't really in it as attacking force and could have been further behind straight after the break, Wright again interfering to gather at the feet of Alex Nesbitt and save from Benjamin.

David Short was the next to come close for United, picked out down the left and his attempted cross sailed towards goal only to just clear the crossbar.

For all their chances, Pont only had one goal to show for it and their wastefulness was nearly punished with 20 minutes remaining.

Albion replacement Luke Holliday had injected some urgency into the team and played a good one, two with Adam Bell, taking the return pass and then just sending an effort from the edge of the box over the bar.

Yet that was as good as it got for Ryton as Ponteland immediately responded, an ambitious attempt from close to half-way from Nesbitt leaving Wright scrambling back to his line and tipping the ball behind. Nesbitt connected with the following corner, his firm header well gathered by the goalkeeper.

As time ticked down, United continued on the offensive and extended their lead with 12 minutes to go after Nesbitt charged down a clearance. The loose ball was picked up by Benjamin who floated the ball into Havelock-Brown to head in from close range.

The same player made it three 10 minutes later, running clear and calmly rounding Wright and slotting the ball into the empty net to make sure of the trophy.

The final scoreline was a true reflection of how the game played out, but Wright made one last save in the last minute when keeping out Benjamin's low shot with his feet to justify his award despite being on the losing side.