Darlington RA manager Nick Harrison said that he was very proud of his players even though they lost at Billingham Town in the Durham Challenge Cup last night.

The Ra nearly caused another upset as they pushed the first division side all the way before they were beaten 4-3 in a penalty shootout after drawing 2-2 in extra time..

“We were as good last night, as we were bad in the first half at Horden last Saturday,” he said. “We got better as the game went on. The players worked their socks off, and more than matched Billingham. It was a really spirited performance.”

Tow Law manager Ian Davison has told his team to learn from Spennymoor after their 5-0 home defeat.

“Spennymoor are a really good team, particularly with their passing and movement. I’ve told our youngsters to look at Spennymoor and what can be achieved.

“I shuffled our team about a bit, because I wanted some of our players to get some minutes under their belts. We play Spennymoor again in a fortnight in the league, and we won’t be playing the same team.”

West Auckland manager Peter Dixon was delighted with the performance of Matthew Coad in the 2-1 win at Horden.

Coad has been missing because of injury for most of this season, and Dixon played him from the start against the second division side. “I watched him play for his Sunday team and score three, so I decided to play him last night. He’s been hampered by injuries, and needed a goal last night, which he got. I’m sure that he went to bed a satisfied man. He’s still nowhere near full match fitness, but he’s slowly getting there.”

Jarrow Roofing lost a remarkable game by 3-2 against Durham City, who lost four players through injury during the game, and played most of the second half with only ten men.

“We played better with ten men than we did with eleven” said Durham boss Lee Collings.