These are good times for Shildon. Saturday was one of the most memorable and the Railwaymen's first round trip to Notts County will take their cup run earnings to around £50,000.

In beating Stocksbridge 6-0 - the third team from the UniBond League Ray Gowan's side have beaten this season - Shildon became the first Northern League club since Bedlington five years ago to reach the first round proper and the 1,046 crowd was their biggest for many years.

In May they won the Northern League Cup at Darlington's former Feethams ground and Shildon fans and officials fancied a trip to Quakers' new home in the FA Cup draw.

And hat-trick hero Garry Barnes more than most. He was released by his home town club after a year as a professional in 2001.

At Feethams he rarely figured in the first-team but started both legs of a memorable League Cup win over Nottingham Forest.

He then went to university in America but since returning last year Barnes has been on the non-league scene and this season has seen him find his shooting boots.

So far he's rattled in 25 goals and while Saturday's hat-trick was his second of the season, he's also hit four on two occasions.

Gowan had high praise for his striker's display on Saturday, saying: "There were some superb finishes by Garry Barnes - he's our Jimmy Greaves."

Playing against a team from the division above, the clinical finisher was magnificent on Saturday but he's got no plans to leave.

"I'm happy here, I'm enjoying playing for Shildon and things are going well for me and the team," he said.

"If someone comes in for me, I'd have to think about it but there's no reason to leave."

Shildon are the current featured team on the FA's website and in winning bucked a trend which had seen all the previous chosen sides lose their next cup tie.

But Stocksbridge were going to need a hell of a lot more than fateful quirks to beat a strong Shildon side.

As Barnes explained, Gowan has some good players at his disposal.

He said: "A lot of the players have played at a higher level, players like Danny Key and Lee Ellison were at Darlington and there's others who were at Hartlepool and Middlesbrough, so we've got good players and a good side.

"We were rampant in the second half. In the first we weren't that good but we got the goal we needed.

"So far this season we've not started most games as we would've liked but we always seem to turn it on in the second half and we proved that today.

"A few of the lads had been having a laugh about the fact we'd beaten teams higher up the league than Stocksbridge.

"But the fact is you're only as good as your last game and if you work hard you get rewards and that's what happened today."