SATURDAY LIVE SPORT BLOG (From The Advertiser Series)

4:56pm

FULL-TIME: Dunston 0 Darlington 3. Sixteen-year-old Connor Lowes made it 3-0 to Darlington in injury time. He rounded the keeper before tapping the ball into an empty net for his first goal for the club in only his second appearance. Had Dunston scored their first half penalty, when Jack Norton saved from Andrew Bulford, the game could have been quite different.

4:40pm

A superb low Liam Connell save prevents Darlington from making it 3-0. Amar Purewal shot at goal after being teed up by Shaun Reay. Six minutes to go at Dunston , 2-0 to Darlington.

4:37pm

Apologies for the lack of updates from Dunston v Darlington – connection difficulties to blame.  Have spent more time trying to get online during this game than watching the match itself. Anyway, ten minutes to go and it’s 2-0 to Quakers.

4:35pm

Sunderland under real pressure here now. Collins has just rattled the crossbar with a powerful header from Noble's corner.

Vaughan failed to connect with an attempted diving header at the other end.

West Ham have just made their final sub - Maiga for Cole.

4:34pm

Darlington 2-0 up with a Shaun Reay penalty on 72 minutes. Was awarded after Dunston keeper Liam Connell hauled down Leon Scott, but somehow the keeper escaped further punishment despite the last man. The issue did bother Reay, though, who blasted his spot-kick high into the net for his ninth goal of the season.

4:34pm

Darlington 2-0 up with a Shaun Reay penalty on 72 minutes. Was awarded after Dunston keeper Liam Connell hauled down Leon Scott, but somehow the keeper escaped further punishment despite the last man. The issue did bother Reay, though, who blasted his spot-kick high into the net for his ninth goal of the season.

4:34pm

Darlington 2-0 up with a Shaun Reay penalty on 72 minutes. Was awarded after Dunston keeper Liam Connell hauled down Leon Scott, but somehow the keeper escaped further punishment despite the last man. The issue did bother Reay, though, who blasted his spot-kick high into the net for his ninth goal of the season.

4:28pm

Second Sunderland sub - Campbell for Sessegnon with 19 minutes left.

All West Ham now and it's back to the wall for the visitors.

4:23pm

66 mins in and Pools close to taking the lead - Lynch, the Sunderland loanee, curled a decent effort across goal and, not for the first time, the Shrews' keeper Weale made a decent diving stop 

4:23pm

Another Stephen Gibson cross, another Andrew Bulford chance, this time the striker headed over Darlington’s bar. The Tynesiders look good for a leveller and there’s still plenty of time to play. 65 minutes gone, 1-0 to Darlington who are struggling to put their foot on the ball in the second half.

4:20pm

Sunderland make a 62nd-minute change - Vaughan for Larsson. The Welshman is playing centrally, with Colback pulling to the left and McClean switching to the right.

4:18pm

4:18pm

4:17pm

Two subs for West Ham in the 57th minute: Jarvis for Vaz Te and Benayoun for Taylor.

Sunderland been reasonably comfortable at the start of the second half, with Cattermole again prominent in midfield.

4:10pm

55 minutes gone and Dunston are coming close to an equaliser. Stephen Goddard won a high ball in Darlington’s penalty area and Terry Galbraith was first to it, firing a shot at goal that Quakers right-back Stephen Harrison clrared off the line, and then came a double save by Jack Norton. Michael Dixon met Stephen Gibson’s cross with Quakers’ keeper stopping a header as well as the midfielder’s follow-up effort.

4:06pm

We’re five minutes into the second half at Dunston , still 1-0 to Darlington . From the restart, Dunston right-back Stephen Gibson launched the ball downfield where Andrew Bulford beat Gary Brown for pace, but the striker’s effort was horribly off target.

4:02pm

Second half under way at West Ham - no changes for either side, but plenty more bubbles. They fly so high and reach the sky apparently.....

4:00pm

It’s half-time between Dunston and Darlington (and has been for some time – connection difficulties...) and it’s 1-0 to Quakers, Joe Tait with the only goal after 26 minutes.

3:50pm

Two chances for Quakers. Darlington’s Shaun Reay’s not seen much of the ball, but he worked an opening, took the ball past Ben Cattanach and Michael Robson, Quakers’ Leon Scott then picked up the loose ball and hit a deflected shot that Dunston keeper Liam Connell saved easily. Adam Nicholls collected a forward pass and shot across goal, but the ball rolled wide of the far post. So close to 2-0.

3:48pm

Half-time and Sunderland lead 1-0. They'll be happy with that and have looked dangerous throughout the first half.

Fletcher's goal was a cracker, but West Ham have shown enough attacking threat to suggest this is far from finished yet.

3:47pm

HT: Pools 1 Shrewsbury 1 . Pools bright, but couldn't get that second. Shrews dangerous. Both keepers made some decent saves, more goals in this one. 

3:44pm

Sunderland indebted to Simon Mignolet here, who has just pulled off a sensational save to keep out Nolan's volley.

The Belgian flung himself to his left to claw the ball to safety and ensure Sunderland still lead with half-time approaching.

3:43pm

Dunston have had the ball in the net, but Andrew Bulford’s effort was ruled out for offside. And from a free-kick soon afterwards the same player floats a free-kick high over the bar. Not much between the teams as yet aside from Joe Tait’s 26th minute goal.  43 minutes gone, still 1-0 to Darlington .

3:40pm

Arguably the North-East’s loudest man is stood behind your reporter at Dunston . Fair to say he’s not enamoured with the officiating and believes Darlington’s Gary Brown...or “Gary Brooon” as The Loudest Man on Tyneside calls him. Think he’s going to explode in a minute.

3:36pm

Dunston’s closest chance so far, a header from the smallest man on the pitch, Ben Cattanach. He rose to meet a Terry Galbraith free-kick, conceded by Gary Brown for a foul on Michael Dixon, but the Dunston skipper’s effort clipped Jack Norton’s post before going behind. 36 minutes gone, 1-0 to Darlington .

3:35pm

West Ham causing problems down the Sunderland right, with Cole heading over from Diame's cross.

Very competitive in midfield here, but Sunderland more than holding their own thanks to a typically competitive Lee Cattermole. He's winning everything at the moment. 0-1

3:24pm

Some really bright link-up play from Sessegnon and Fletcher here, with Sunderland counter-attacking well.

West Ham posing a threat themselves though, with Vaz Te just heading over from Taylor's cross.

Still 0-1 though midway through first half.

3:21pm

3:20pm

20 minutes gone, still 0-0 between Dunston and Darlington . Not an excessive amount of football being played. Both teams playing the ball between themselves in their own half, but not making any progress in the final third. Dunston keeper Liam Connell has caught a couple of inswinging Dan Smith set-pieces, but that’s been as exciting as it’s got. And just as I type that, Quakers’ Adam Nicholls strikes from long range that Connell claims at the second attempt.

3:19pm

Stunning one-handed low save from Flinders keeps the Hartlepool lead intact. Pools appear to be playing with a point to prove after Tuesday's humbling and are up for this one. 

3:16pm

Fletcher's finish for Sunderland was a cracker. Collins gave him too much room in the penalty area, but he controlled the ball superbly on his chest and drilled home.  0-1

3:08pm

Aren’t Northern League players meant to refrain from blue language? Someone needs to tell Dunston’s Terry Galbraith. Screaming the f-word in frustration in front of the main stand full of families is not the way to win friends. One for Northern League chief Mike Amos perhaps.

3:04pm

A new record for Quakers’ calamity keeper Jack Norton, a new fastest time for his first error of the day. 80 seconds this time, a weak clearance straight to Dunston’s Terry Galbraith. He gets away with this one though as Darlington were able to withdraw in numbers, snuffing out the danger. Four minutes gone, still 0-0.

3:01pm

Game under way at West Ham - as expected, Sunderland lining up in a 4-4-1-1 formation with Sessegnon playing off Fletcher.

2:54pm

2:52pm

Three changes for Hartlepool today : 

HARTLEPOOL UNITED: Flinders; Baldwin, Collins, Hartley, Horwood; Lynch, Murray, Sweeney, Franks; Howard, Poole. Subs: Austin, Humphreys, Walton, Monkhouse, Holden, McHugh (gk), James.
SHREWSBURY TOWN: Weale; Grandison, Jones, Hector, Jacobson; Parry, Summerfield, Richards, Wildig; Gornell, Morgan. Subs: Anyon, Purdie, Wright, Taylor, Hall, Doble, Goldson.
Referee: Carl Boyeson (Hull).

2:52pm

Injury and suspension mean that Darlington have to make three changes for today’s game at Dunston UTS .

Both Arjun Purewal (ankle) and David Dowson (groin) are sidelined while striker Stephen Thompson serves a one-match ban for the game on Tyneside.

In their places manager Martin Gray selects Leon Scott, Adam Nicholls and Shaun Reay.

In the Dunston side is striker Andrew Bulford who has already ten goals to his name this season. He is Dunston’s all-time top scorer and came through the youth ranks at Darlington when Gray was youth coach.

Dunston had a poor start to the season, losing their first five league games, which included a 4-0 loss to Quakers at Heritage Park. But they have shown signs of recovering having defeated Whitley Bay 2-1 last weekend.

Darlington are bidding to stay top of the table having won seven of their eight matches. They have an opportunity to extend their lead at the top as Spennymoor and West Auckland are both in FA Cup action today.

Dunston UTS: Connell, Gibson, Cattanach, Robson, Swailes, Shaw, Burrell, Dixon, Goddard, Bulford, Galbraith. Subs: Herron, Clark (gk), Preen, Pickering, Fisher

Darlington: Norton; Harrison, Brown, Tait, Smith; Emms, Ellison, Scott, Nicholls; Amar Purewal, Reay. Subs: Clough, Porter (gk), Lowes, Richardson, Gregan

2:52pm

If there are bubbles blowing around in front of the press box, it can only mean you're at West Ham.

Glorious sunny day down here with the away end at Upton Park filling up rapidly.

Carlton Cole has passed a late fitness test for West Ham and starts, but the surprise in the home ranks is that former Newcastle boss Sam Allardyce has opted to keep summer signing Matt Jarvis on the bench again.

2:43pm

2:42pm

2:32pm

Away from the football for a quick second, Piercebridge trainer Michael Dods has just had a huge win, with Mass Rally claiming the Ayr Silver Cup. Dods also had the fourth in the race with Spinatrix.

2:25pm

The early team news down here at Upton Park is that Sunderland winger Adam Johnson has failed to shake off the thigh injury he sustained on international duty with England. For the second game in succession, Johnson won't feature.

2:25pm

Welcome to another action-packed Saturday of live football action here on the Northern Echo blog.

The headline attraction is at Upton Park in east London, where Sunderland will take on West Ham attempting to extend their unbeaten start to the season.

In League One, Hartlepool's players will be desperate to atone for their midweek horror-show at Preston when they entertain Shrewsbury.

And in the Northern League, Darlington will hope to strengthen their position at the top of the table as they travel to Dunston.