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Ambitious Scarborough Town's stint in the relatively lowly Teesside League looks like being a single-season wonder. The club, one of two to emerge from the wreckage of liquidated former Football League outfit Scarborough FC, has been invited to join either the Northern Counties (East) or Wearside Leagues for next season. Director of football Mitch Cook, an ex-professional in four separate spells with the old Boro team, favours the Wearside option to give his young side, average age just 18, more time to develop. But some at Town like the look of the NCEL - the bottom rung of 'proper' senior football in North Yorkshire, and with whose officials the club have met. Much depends on the outcome of a planning application which has been submitted for a small stand, floodlights, hardstanding and a covered area at the George Pindar Community Sports College, where the club is based, and plays occasionally, in the Eastfield area of this, a classical Victorian resort. The Wearside League, in the short term, seems the likely destination.

Most matches, including this one, are scheduled for the McCain Sports & Social Club. This pleasant, though poorly developed, facility is located on a quiet country lane linking the retirement villages of Cayton and Osgodby, between Scarborough and Filey. It's not ideal, geographically, for fans living in town, though it's closer than bitter rivals Scarborough Athletic's arrangement of groundsharing with Bridlington Town, and crowds for home fixtures have averaged about 130 - unheard of in the Teesside League.

Town, who, sadly, and, you'd imagine, counter productively, dislike fellow recent arrivals Athletic as much as their neighbours loathe them, boast several direct links with Scarborough FC. Their team is an adult extension of the defunct club's former centre of excellence, football in the community scheme and youth side. Town's officials and committee were all either Seadogs fans, sponsors, employees, directors or supporters' club members. The idea is for the set-up at George Pindar, under local lad Cook's guidance, to provide a constant flow of players for Town.

There is, however, little chance of a return to the traditional Athletic Stadium on Seamer Road. This ground, much improved in recent years by the opening of an all-seater cantilever stand at each end, has been left to rot since the old club was wound up on June 20th, 2007. It has been bought from the administrators for a sum in excess of £1.35m by the local council, and is earmarked for housing. Until the paperwork is in place for work to begin, the Athletic Stadium, shuttered and padlocked, is being overrun with weeds and its fabric destroyed by the mindless activities of vandals. Putting things right would cost a minimum of £650,000. In the meantime, Town and Athletic play their games out of town. It's a ridiculous state of affairs, and a salutary warning to all those supporters whose clubs suffer from the kind of mismanagement which appeared to afflict Scarborough FC once they had won promotion to the Football League. And, as we all know so well, you simply cannot turn back the clock. Ironically, this was the weekend the town's rugby union club opened their new, £4m set-up at a 32-acre site between Scalby and Burniston.

There isn't, frankly, much to see at the McCain Sports & Social Club. A metalled drive bends past a line of windbreak firs to reach a tarmac car park in front of a two-storey stone block which houses, on the ground floor, the dressing rooms and kitchen, and, on the second, a bar and a social club. Town use the pitch slightly to the left, or north-west, of the building when viewing the site from the bar's balcony. To the south-west, the lands falls away towards the chimneys of the McCain factory. Beyond, directly to the south, the high line of the Wolds fills in the horizon. Homes, many bungalows occupied by the large sixtysomething population, fringe most of the south, west and north extremities. Of note, to the east, and on the other side of Osgodby Lane, is a delightful group of brick buildings, with art-deco detailing. Closer inspection reveals this used to be a waterworks, which has been transformed into self-catering dwellings.

So, there is neither cover nor floodlights, and a simple rope-and-railings barrier on each side touchline separates spectators from players. With the sort of icy wind which would redden the complexion of a trawlerman blowing relentlessly across the pitch from the east, this was a 90-minute endurance test. Thankfully, the sumptuous quality of Town's football made the rawness of the weather easier to bear. Cook, once a stylish full-back, really has got his youngsters playing extremely thoughtfully. The McCain Sports & Social Club pitch is better than the one at George Pindar, and suits their give-and-go style. The team produces a short-passing game and is clearly under instructions to keep possession for as long as possible. Good habits, and, when successful, both effective and attractive. The team features some very tidy footballers - notably left-back Dean Craig, who has been on Leeds United's books, and skipper and midfielder George Rose, who was with Northern Counties (East) League Pickering Town last season. This victory was Town's 11th on the trot in the league, and they made Middlesbrough estate side Coulby Newham, beaten just once in Division Two of the Teesside League before kick-off, look a pretty blunt instrument. But for some wayward finishing, and a couple of breathtaking saves from Graeme Turner, in the last 20 minutes, the hosts could have reached double figures - as they have already in this their debut campaign.

Craig's fancy footwork on the left byline in the 11th minute enabled him to outwit his marker and ended with a cross turned home from close range by Tom Hickin, who was netting his first goal as a Town player. Three minutes later, Town doubled their lead when another Dean delivery from the left was volleyed in smartly on the turn from 12 yards by 16-year-old Josh Greening - the maiden strike of a hat-trick on his full debut. Greening made it 3-0 in the 28th minute with a calmly-taken rolled effort into a corner when through on goal.

The half-time whistle sparked a stampede for the centrally-heated sanctuary of the bar - and then groans when the referee cut the interval to just 10 minutes. There was scarcely chance to gulp down a cup of reviving tea. Mark Barber raised temperatures a little with a driven fourth in the 61st minute, finding the far corner with a 12-yard shot across Coulby Newham keeper Turner. But the visitors responded within a minute, and James Myers tucked away a penalty awarded, rather harshly, for handball against Hickin. It was only the 10th goal Town have conceded all season. Greening completed his treble from the spot in the 65th minute following a crude challenge - one of several from the visiting players - which halted a dazzling Wayne Brooksby run down the inside left channel. Cook took time out from bellowing useful advice to introduce one of his teenage sons from the bench (the other was in the starting XI), but he could not inspire a sixth goal, despite a number of close shaves in the Coulby Newham penalty area.

Town's officials are very enthusiastic, and the club's programme, for this level of football, is most impressive. They are keen to escape what they see as a competition for cloggers, and it would be good to see the club join either the Northern Counties (East) or Wearside Leagues. But, from the perspective of an outsider looking in, I'd say they really need to bury the hatchet with Scarborough Athletic, and think about merging. The town of Scarborough struggled to provide enough support to sustain a non-league club of decent standing, much less a Football League concern, and a division of resources does not seem to make any sense. Sure, the causes of the conflict have their origins in the demise of the old club, and no doubt the wounds run deep, but for the good of senior football in the town, some form of rapprochement is desirable.