A SMALL football team based in a remote part of Northumberland is causing shockwaves in the top tier of the Northern Alliance.

Little ol' Wallington, who play their home games in the tiny village of Scots Gap, jumped to the top of the Premier Division as they leapfrogged previous leaders Newcastle Chemfica with victory at the weekend.

The slender 1-0 victory was the sixth success from their opening seven league games, seeing the Greens putting the pressure on against teams from the city and much larger towns and villages from across the North-East.

Man of the match Josh Laverick's goal was the difference between Wallington and Chemfica, with the victory putting the former back on top of the division for the first time since 2013, having previously won the Alliance in 1977.

New manager Trevor Baston is refusing to get carried away but was proud of the progress his squad has made.

He said: "I’m obviously over the moon with the start we’ve had. It was a very difficult set of fixtures with four tough away trips to Alnwick, Killingworth, Cullercoats and Winlaton. The players have been fantastic though, and I feel we’ve deserved to win the six games that we have so far.

"It was disappointing that we didn’t show up at Killingworth but there’s been a great reaction from then onwards. We’ve worked incredibly hard to hit the top of the table but I’ll be stressing to the lads that the real hard work starts now as we try to consolidate that position and kick on even further.

"There are some excellent teams in the division this year and every week is a real test, and Saturday's game against Ponteland will certainly fall into that category. We’ll simply try to carry on what we’ve been doing though - working hard, trying to play the right way, trusting one another, believing in ourselves, and let’s see how far it takes us."

Division One leaders Prudhoe YC Seniors have failed to win in their past four outings, but still hold on to top spot as their rivals have not been in league action.

They fought back valiantly with 10 men to take the score to 2-2 against Whitburn & Cleadon courtesy of an own goal and a strike from Danny Driver, but they lost to a last minute free kick.

Their main title threat Haltwhistle Jubilee were in Northumberland FA Minor Cup action and, similarly to Hexham, they were in rampant form as both Tynedale teams recorded 12-0 victories.

Jack Barker led the way with four goals, with Mark Robson and Paul Wilson both bagging braces for Haltwhistle as they thumped North East Combination League outfit Westerhope Seniors.

Billy Rogan, James Charteries, Callum James and Liam Crowe also added their names to the scoresheet.

Hexham matched their score as they ran away with things in the opening half of their home game against Newbiggin Hall.

Ponteland United Reserves took Newcastle East End to penalties in their cup tie after a goalless draw, but it ended in disappointment as they lost 4-3 in the shoot-out.

Heddon United hit hosts Hadrian for six without reply in the second division of the North East Combination League.

Liam Ridley and Lee Blackburn both hit doubles, with Bradley Waldock and Jordan Phillips also getting in on the act.

Carl Gray was named star man as Heddon moved up to sixth.