Wilf Constantine was overwhelmed by the goodwill messages from players and managers before Easington Colliery's FA Cup final qualifying round tie against Chester City.

Constantine, who lives in Hartlepool, said: "I had so many good luck calls - and I was surprised by the amount of people who rang."

Easington, who don't attract many more than 50 supporters on a good day, thought about switching the tie to Chester who would have almost certainly attracted a crowd of over 2,000.

Constantine, 26 years as a manager, said: "We could have gone for a bigger slice of the cake - but I am glad that we decided to play at home."

The weather certainly wasn't kind to Easington with rain driving across the ground and made even more unpleasant by the wind.

Constantine added: "I would like to think everyone who stood out and watched us in dreadful conditions.

"We enjoyed the day - and the limelight. But now it's down to league points."

Easington are second from bottom in the First Division and there bid to reach safety starts at West Auckland tomorrow afternoon.

And Easington were back inthe limelight in midweek - this time in the Albany Durham Challenge Cup.

The Durham FA decided at the start of the season that games in the competition wouldn't go to replays, ruling that games would be decided, if the scores were level at the end of extra time, by penalties.

However, they maybe didn't expect the drama which unfolded on Tuesday night when Easington and Brandon drew 0-0 after extra time in their second round tie.

In a shoot-out lasting nearly half an hour, Brandon eventually won 8-7 on penalties with both keepers scoring with spot-kicks.

Easington keeper Paul March saved three spot kicks, but his counterpart, Ben Cole, stopped four.

Easington boss Constantine said: "I think we had the opportunity to win the tie four times, but missed every time.

"After all the players had taken a penalty each, somebody from the crowd shouted that the two managers should take one!"

Brandon manager Kenny Lindoe said: "Our keeper took his spot kick well. I should have put him in my first five!"

Durham City keeper Marc Riches was a scoring hero in his side's 3-0 win at Guisborough last Saturday. Riches, signed by Durham manager Brian Honour a month ago, scored his side's second goal in a 3-0 victory at a windy Guisborough with a wind-assisted clearance.

Durham committee man Ernie Duncan said; "We were defending a corner, and Marc caught the ball. He sprinted forward a few yards and just hit the ball downfield towards our striker, Micky Taylor.

"The ball caught on the wind, their keeper was off his line, and the ball bounced over him and into the net."

The goal helped to end Guisborough's eight game unbeaten run, which had lifted them into the top ten in the table after a slow start to the season.

Durham, meanwhile, went joint top with Bedlington, who were on FA Vase duty that day.

Durham's pitch was immaculate on Tuesday night when they beat Jarrow Roofing 3-1.They took the lead after 29 minutes when Stuart Irvine raced into the Jarrow box, and even though his shot was charged down, Paul Symons turned the ball home.

They went further ahead on the hour when midfielder Gustavo DiLella cut in from the right and fired a left foot shot into the top corner of the net from 20 yards.

Jarrow's Micky Haley pulled one back with a low shot from outside the box, but Paul Robertson ensured Durham's sixth straight win in the league with a left foot strike from a corner.

Jarrow lost midfielder Steve Hymers in the first half with a bad leg injury.

Durham were top for 24 hours in their own right - until Bedlington crushed third-placed Peterlee 6-0 on Wednesday.

Former Hartlepool player Paul Baker scored one of the goals, with Dean Gibb (2), Christian Graham, Anthony Chapman and Brian Rowe getting the others.

Guisborough bounced back from their weekend defeat to go fifth in the table with a 2-1 win at Seaham Red Star.

They took the lead with a backheel from Micky Ward in a scramble but Jonathan Mould equalised for Seaham from a Neil Crute pass.

Guisborough got the winner from a Darren Mowbray penalty after Darren Raulston was fouled.

Bedlington joint manager Tony Lowery sounded an ominous warning after his side was beaten in the last qualifying round of the FA Cup by Morecambe last Saturday.

The defeat was Bedlington's first of the season in all competitions, after a summer in which they lost a couple of key players to the UniBond League.

But they now look as strong as ever, and have their sights set on a fourth successive Albany Northern League title, and glory in the FA Vase. "We must lift ourselves for the Vase now, because we want to do well and win the league again," said Lowery.

"We feel that we've got the squad to bounce back just like we have done in the past, but we know that there are some tough games ahead. Clubs in our league are capable of beating us."

l Crook Town's FA Youth Cup tie, which was scheduled for last Sunday at Oldham's Boundary Park, was again postponed because of a waterlogged pitch on Sunday, and is now set for November 9.

Division One

P W D L F A Pts

Bedlington 11 9 2 0 40 6 29

Durham City 14 8 5 1 36 13 29

Peterlee 13 7 3 3 17 16 24

Dunston 10 6 3 1 16 10 21

Guisborough 13 5 4 4 21 19 19

Marske 10 5 3 2 20 8 18

Billingham Syn 11 5 3 3 25 19 18

Brandon 12 5 3 4 19 22 18

Tow Law 10 5 1 4 24 15 16

Whitley Bay 10 4 3 3 20 13 15

Seaham 10 5 0 5 21 22 15

Consett 13 4 3 6 18 21 15

Jarrow Roofing 14 3 4 7 19 31 13

Billingham Tn 7 4 0 3 17 12 12

Newcastle Blue S 11 3 3 5 18 24 12

West Auckland 9 3 2 4 14 18 11

Morpeth 12 2 4 6 13 25 10

Chester-le-Street 8 2 1 5 14 14 7

Hebburn 11 2 1 8 11 26 7

Easington 7 2 0 5 10 21 6

Crook Town 12 0 2 10 7 44 2

Division Two

Ashington 11 7 2 2 38 19 23

Thornaby 10 6 3 1 25 12 21

Willington 12 5 5 2 21 12 20

Washington 11 5 4 2 22 10 19

Norton 12 5 4 3 15 16 19

Esh Winning 11 5 3 3 21 17 18

Shildon 12 5 3 4 17 19 18

South Shields 10 5 2 3 25 16 17

Alnwick 13 4 5 4 22 21 17

Murton 11 5 2 4 23 25 17

Northallerton 9 4 4 1 28 12 16

Horden 11 4 3 4 10 9 15

Penrith 8 3 5 0 12 6 14

Shotton 11 3 5 3 20 18 14

Whickham 13 3 4 6 16 21 13

Ryhope CA 12 2 5 5 16 20 11

Evenwood 13 2 3 8 11 39 9

Prudhoe 12 2 0 10 12 35 6

Eppleton 12 0 2 10 15 41 2

UniBond League

Premier Division

P W D L F A Pts

Emley 16 12 2 2 30 17 38

Altrincham 17 10 3 4 39 20 33

Worksop 18 9 3 6 53 30 30

Accrington 17 9 3 5 29 21 30

Stalybridge 13 8 5 0 34 10 29

Bishop Auckland 16 8 3 5 24 21 27

Lancaster 16 8 2 6 30 28 26

Burscough 14 7 2 5 27 23 23

Colwyn Bay 13 6 5 2 26 22 23

Whitby 15 6 5 4 22 20 23

Barrow 12 7 1 4 26 20 22

Gateshead 14 6 3 5 30 17 21

Hucknall 15 5 6 4 19 20 21

Droylsden 15 7 0 8 24 27 21

Hyde 15 5 4 6 27 23 19

Marine 17 4 7 6 27 32 19

Bamber Bridge 13 5 1 7 19 25 16

Gainsborough 16 4 4 8 16 30 16

Blyth Spartans 17 4 2 11 13 26 14

Leek Town 13 2 4 7 10 18 10

Runcorn 13 2 3 8 16 30 9

Spennymoor 17 2 3 12 20 49 9

Frickley 15 1 3 11 10 41 6