Darlington RA manager, David Woodcock, firmly believes that his side has turned the corner following a poor start to the season.

Four consecutive wins have propelled RA into sixth position and also enabled them to make progress in a couple of cup competitions.

"To say we did not start too well is an understatement, but we had an horrendous time with suspension, injuries and holidays.

"During the first six weeks we were going nowhere, but all of a sudden our form has shown a dramatic improvement and four wins on the trot is the best sequence we have achieved so far," enthused Woodcock.

Now, the boss is hoping to emulate the achievements of Birtley Town who last season came from nowhere and almost clinched the title.

"Birtley almost pulled it off, but just as important they had a big bearing on the destination of the championship. If we can put a run together like they did then we will cause a few upsets and who knows what might happen.

"I am not suggesting we will win the title - Birtley are everybody's favourites - but success breeds success and if we finish in the top three and win one cup then it would be an excellent achievement following the start we made," claimed Woodcock.

Whatever happens, though, RA are happy to be playing in the Wearside League. They only joined last season after previously operating in the Auckland and District League.

"Without any disrespect, I am much happier being sixth from top in the Wearside League. There is no easy game, but on our day we have proved during the season and a half we have been in the league that we can match the best, obviously we have got to build for the future, but everybody is confident that success will eventually be achieved."

Recently, RA have beaten Boldon CA twice to move forward in the Sunderland Shipowners and Monkwearmouth Charity Cups. "Boldon would have gone to the top of the table had they defeated Whitehaven last weekend. They gave us a couple of hard games but we came out on top confirming that we are an in-form team," enthused Woodcock.

Paul Ross scored his 50th goal for North Shields in the victory over Ferryhill Athletic in the League Cup last weekend. He made his debut in 1981 and in the following season played in the side which defeated Halifax in the FA Cup.

Since then, he has played for a number of clubs but is now back at Ralph Gardner Park and in the match with Ferryhill made his 145th appearance.

Goalkeeper Dave Hodgson, meanwhile, played his 155th game when he was called up by manager Wilf Kielty.

With regular goalkeeper Simon Bradford injured, Kielty turned to Hodgson who had not played since the 1998-99 season when he made just one appearance.

"Over the years Dave has been a good servant to the Robins and he showed his class last Saturday playing in the same side as former colleagues Martin Lamb and David Little," said North Shields secretary David Thompson.