IN the end, it was only a dream. The laws of probability kicked in and the footballing minnows of Harrogate Railway fell prey to the relative might of Bristol City.

But they went down fighting, and for all those who squeezed into the quirky Station View ground, it was a match they would never forget.

Tears were openly shed when the final whistle blew and the plucky Cinderella side's hopes were shunted back, 3-1, into the soccer sidings.

But for one brief shining moment they teetered on the edge of FA Cup glory, but the great consolation remains - just getting so far in one of the world's greatest footballing tournaments has ensured their place in the sporting history books.

And the cheers resonated round the tiny ground at Starbeck as the Northern Counties East League side set out on their deserved lap of honour.

The highly partisan crowd of 3,500 rose to their feet to honour their amateur heroes, who had cheekily taunted the Second Division players: "It's only our hobby you know, we've all got other jobs."

When not playing football, those jobs include a supermarket worker, accountant, bank manager, barman, labourer and quantify surveyor.

The scorer of Railway's only goal, Steve Davey, will be back on his postal round delivering mail tomorrow after a well-deserved day off today, and he was still in jubilant mood despite the defeat. "It was just fantastic playing in such a match - and our fans were magnificent," he said.

Team skipper Danny Ames is a 24-year-old student in landscape architecture at Leeds Metropolitan University, and he, too, was on cloud nine.

"This has been the biggest moment in my soccer career. Two years ago when we played Morecambe in the FA Cup I missed out because of injury," he said.

Railway's chairman Dennis Bentley, 71, has been linked with the club since 1946. He spoke for many of the fans: "We came off that pitch with our heads held high and we were so proud of our players."

When the match got under way, the Reverend Francis Wainaina was praying for a fairy tale finale across the road at the Sunday morning service in St Andrew's Church, where his congregation was suspiciously small.

Unable to get a ticket, he then dashed from pulpit to playing area in the hope of picking up some match details outside the gate.

By some divine intervention, he was spotted by a member of his parish who had a spare ticket and he got in for the start of the second half. Once inside, he found where the missing members of his congregation were.

"I'm afraid our numbers were down because of the match," he admitted. "But we prayed very much for Railway to win."

Chief Superintendent Andy Parker, whose officers were able to keep a low profile at the match, said: "When some fans came on the pitch to celebrate the Harrogate goal, they only did so out of excitement.

"One of the FA officials who attended told me there was a far better atmosphere here than at a recent

Manchester United match he had attended. It was a tremendous family occasion really." There was only one arrest for alleged assault - but officers were at pains to point out it had nothing to do with football. "It resulted following a long-standing feud between two men," he said. It is safe to say that yesterday's clash was the first in the club's history to be screened live on Sky TV - and the crowd, packed into the temporary

stands erected specially for the occasion made the most of their 90 minutes of fame to taunt their arch rivals. "Are you watching, Harrogate Town?" they chorused. Tomorrow, the cup heroes are back down to earth and back in action - ironically against Harrogate Town, in the West Riding Cup. Sky TV are not thought be televising this clash.