GALLANT giant-killers Hebburn finally met their match when they lost 82-81 in an extra time thriller to a powerful Cumbria side in the fifth round of the Denny Cup.

The little Tyneside club, which operates with only three rinks, accounted for Hartlepool, The Parks and Stanley and did their utmost to rise to the occasion against a side which had made the final four times since 1996.

Darlington, who will host the semi-finals and final of the prestigious All-England Inter Club Championship, made progress after beating Thornaby 103-72 and they will meet Nottingham.

In the Denny Plate competition Hartlepool beat the Cramlington club Concordia 99-75, avenging last year's Denny Cup defeat at the hands of the Northumbrians, while Great Aycliffe also advanced with a nail-biting 98-94 success over Old Mill Leisure, from Chorley in Lancashire.

In the equivalent women's national event for the Yetton Trophy, Thornaby made hard work of defeating Great Aycliffe by a single shot, 1989 winners Darlington beat Hartlepool 97-75, South Shields were 74-65 victors over Ashington, Eldon Square (Newcastle) beat Stanley 81-57, and York were 104-71 winners over neighbours New Earswick.

Second round results in the All-England Mixed Fours Championship for the Egham Trophy included:

South Shields 77, Eldon Square 75; Concordia 81, Tynedale 79; Thornaby 98, Redcar 66; Darlington 87, Great Aycliffe 54.

Area Three National Championships results:

Sungles: D Dodd (Aycliffe) 21, A Bousefield (Darlington) 13; P Hartley (Hartlepool) 21, D Dowson (Aycliffe) 11; M Squirrell (Hart) 11, G Skipp (Thornaby) 21.

Pairs: Hills/Moore (Darl) 19, Stephenson/Storr (Darl) 18; P Heath (Spennymoor) w.o.

Triples: P Heath (Spenny) 7, S Morland (Ayc) 29; M Lynch (Darl) 9, R Metcalf (Ayc) 16; A Macey (Hart) 15, J Wells (Hart) 10.

Under-25 Singles: M O'Riordan (Thorn) 21, J Rudge (Hart) 11.

Over-50 Triples: D Doe (Saltburn) 28, A Jones (Thorn) 19; A Taylor (Hart) 12, B price (Hart) 19.

Over-60 Singles (sem-final): J Clare (Darl) 21, D Dowson (Ayc) 17. John Clare will now meet Darlington clubmate Eric Ramsdale in the regional final.

Mixed Pairs: Anderson/Moore (Darl) 22, Bousefield/Bousefield (Darl) 16; Johnston/Kilner (Hart) 18, Alderson/Jones (Thorn) 26.

Mixed Fours: S Packham (Hart) 22; A Stephenson (Darl) 15.