stephen murray

RYTON secretary Steve Murray reckons the side is on cloud nine after moving into second place in Division Two with victory at Thornaby.

It is the Tynesiders' highest-ever position during the three seasons they have been in the competition � and Murray claims there is more to come from a young team.

He said: "Our oldest player on Saturday was goalkeeper Liam Connell, who is just 19.

"Thornaby have quite a bit of experience in their line-up, but we did well and deserved our 3-1 victory."

Stephen Shaw was an early marksman before 18-year old Paul King scored his first goal for the club.

At the halfway stage Ryton were coasting, but Murray accepts it was a different affair during the second period.

He added: "They came back at us, and when they reduced the deficit through John Ryan I began to wonder where was this going to end.

"However, the lads were superb and Matthew Parry's goal in the last 10 minutes knocked the stuffing out of Thornaby."

Ryton are eight points adrift of leaders Birtley Town with a game in hand.

Birtley maintained their impressive form, defeating Prudhoe Town with goals from James Kesterton, James Alsop and Barry Smith.

WEST Allotment Celtic moved out of the First Division's bottom two following a splendid 2-1 victory over Spennymoor Town at Whitley Park.
Secretary Ted Ilderton said: "We have been playing pretty well, much better than our position suggests, but luck had not been with us until Saturday.

"We had the rub of the green and two goals in the first six minutes seemed to inspire the lads.

"They hit back before the interval, but we held on during the second period for only our second win of the season."

Celtic made a dream start, scoring in the first minute through Lee York � and Tom Vickers' sixth-minute goal was equally impressive.

Ian Dixon reduced Spennymoor's deficit.

WITH just three points separating sixth-placed Newcastle Benfield Bay Plastics from second-from-top Sunderland Nissan, Benfield boss Paul Baker is confident the Tynesiders will challenge for the First Division championship.
Baker said: "Durham City are setting the pace and are eight points ahead of us, but we are definitely in with a shout.

"There is a long way to go, and on Saturday we made it three wins on the bounce in beating Bedlington."
Freddy Eastwood will fight it out with Jay Bothroyd to earn a place in Wolves' line-up for Saturday's clash with Charlton at Molineux.

Eastwood has been a regular on the substitutes bench in recent weeks and had been publicly criticised by Mick McCarthy for his poor performances.

However, a rift has been denied by both parties this week and with Stephen Elliot set to miss the game with a hamstring injury, Eastwood or Bothroyd will come into the starting XI.

McCarthy will be without experienced defender Michael Gray, who is suffering from a hamstring injury which could keep him out for a couple of weeks.

Stephen Ward is aiming to be fit for the clash, but it is touch and go whether the striker will recover from tendonitis in time.

Goalkeeper Matt Murray and defender Rob Edwards remain sidelined with long-term knee injuries.

A win for Wolves could see them move into the Championship play-off positions and close the gap on the Addicks to just one point.

Matt Holland has been ruled out of Charlton's trip after suffering a calf injury in training this week.

The experienced midfielder, who only recently battled back to fitness following knee surgery, has torn his calf and faces another three weeks on the sidelines.

Andy Reid will be checked over by medical staff at The Valley after playing a second 90 minutes in the space of five days for the Republic of Ireland despite an ankle problem.

Alan Pardew's midfield is further depleted by the absence of winger Lloyd Sam, who serves the second game of his three-match ban.

Injury-jinxed USA defender Cory Gibbs has suffered another setback, fracturing three metatarsals on his comeback for the reserves this week.

Ben Thatcher (knee) is still sidelined so Chris Powell continues at left-back. It looked like a done deal the day it was announced. At an international biotechnology conference in South Boston last May, Governor Deval Patrick proposed investing more than $1 billion in the industry, a colossal initiative intended to secure the state's position as a global leader in the field. Alongside him stood Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi, a tableau that seemed to ensure its success.

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Sign up for: Globe Headlines e-mail | Breaking News Alerts More than five months later, the bill hasn't even had a hearing on Beacon Hill; the first one is scheduled for later this month.

House leaders cite a number of reasons for the delays: Patrick did not file the bill until mid-July; the House and Senate spent six weeks debating whether to break it up or send it to a single committee; and there are differences between the governor and House leaders over crucial details.

But the freshman governor says he is exasperated by what he sees as legislative dilly-dallying, not only on the biotech bill, but on a host of other issues.

"I'm frustrated by the pace; I don't make any secret of that," Patrick said in an interview yesterday. "I don't think it's simply because I'm from the private sector or, as they say in the South, 'not from around here.' It's because I got elected to make change. People are hungry for it, and I think a lot of people see the reasons for the delays as excuses for inaction. And sometimes I do, too."

The biotech package is one of a series of blockbuster proposals the Democratic governor has rolled out since taking office: ending corporate tax breaks, repealing the telecommunications tax, allowing local communities to raise modest rooms and meals taxes, and getting tougher on gun crime.

But none of these big ideas appear to have any chance of becoming law before the Legislature wraps up business for the year on Nov. 21, raising the possibility that Patrick could finish his first year in office having accomplished few of his major agenda items. It was not supposed to be this way for the first governor in 16 years to see his own party control the Legislature.

"There's one party that runs 99.9 percent of everything," said Representative Bradley H. Jones Jr., Republican of North Reading and the House minority leader. "And the issues that he's brought up are not only not being addressed in the manner he proposes, but they're not being addressed at all."

DiMasi said in an interview yesterday that he has been working with the governor on a variety of bills, including two pending proposals on education law changes and a merger of the state's transportation agencies, as well as on DiMasi's own energy bill. He also pointed to the budget as an example of compromise and collaboration