Bishop Auckland's season hit a new low when they were knocked out of the Durham Challenge Cup by Wearside League club Birtley on Saturday.

And Bishops boss Brian Honour refused to blame the club's injury crisis for their shock 1-0 defeat.

"I won't use the injuries we've had or the cuptied players as an excuse," he said.

"We still had a good side on the pitch, but we just didn't play.

"Birtley deserved to win because they were the best team on the day. I hate losing matches, no matter what the competition, and I'm determined we will climb up the league."

Kevin Devine missed a couple of early chances for Bishops, but then John Caffrey pulled off two good saves at the other end.

Birtley's Paul Terrell had a shot cleared off the line before he scored the winner after 62 minutes when his low shot took a slight deflection and beat Caffrey.

Billingham Synthonia won 1-0 at Boldon CA, scoring the winner in the dying minutes through Mark Swales.

Wolviston also beat Northern League opposition in Whickham by 3-1. Danny Hall put Whickham ahead from the spot, but Wolviston hit back to equalise through Andy Steele on the hour.

Steele made it 2-1, then completed his hat trick from a rebound near the end.