Bishop Auckland are a club with no shortage of cup pedigree and they continued their progress in this year’s Emirates FA Cup with a 2-1 win over Horden Community Welfare in the preliminary round.
The hosts, who reached the fourth round proper in the 1950s and have lifted the FA Amateur Cup 10 times, started on top and created several early chances.
The pressure told on 25 minutes when Dean Thexton latched on to Mikey Roberts’ through ball and slotted home.
Roberts saw an effort ruled out for offside shortly afterwards before he almost had another assist to his name, setting up Jack Blackford, whose strike came back off the post.
Thexton opened up a two-goal cushion for the Bishops on the stroke of half time, firing home from inside the area from Jermaine Metz’s pass.
The visitors halved the deficit on 57 minutes through Kieran Voss but they were unable to find a leveller, while the hosts came close to a third when Liam Jarvie hit the bar.
Bishop Auckland manager Leon Carling said: “In the first half, we were fantastic and could have been 4-0 up.
“There was not much to be critical about apart from not rolling the ball in. We should have been out of sight but in the second half, they sensed an opportunity, with nothing to lose, to have a go. The game levelled up and we conceded a sloppy goal but we were able to see it out.
“Relief is the overriding emotion. We deserved to win and could have done so more emphatically but for teams at our level, it is about staying in the competition as long as you can and generating funds to boost the coffers.”
The result marks the end of Horden’s first FA Cup campaign in their new guise – the original club, Horden Colliery Welfare, made the second round proper in 1938-39 – but simply featuring at all is a mark of how far they have come since reforming in 2017 in the Durham Alliance League.
Manager Jonny Payne said: “In the first half, we were a bit tentative and we gave them a bit too much respect.
“They had a bagful of chances, but I didn’t feel we were out the game. I was positive at half time and said if we score, we can go on and do it again.
“We got a goal early doors with a really good finish and we were on top for most of it but just couldn’t break them down. Overall, it was probably a fair result.”
Horden beat Blyth Town 2-1 in the extra preliminary round to make it to this stage and Payne, who has been in charge since the club reformed eight years ago and had several spells there as a player, relished the experience of managing in the Emirates FA Cup for the first time.
“It’s the biggest thing in football,” he said. “I have played in it but it didn’t feel like it did now, when I am leading a team playing in the Cup.
“Hearing the players say after the last round ‘I’ve played in the FA Cup’, that was a big thing for them. It’s brilliant, I love the competition.”
Bishop Auckland, meanwhile, can set their sights on progressing further – with Carling hoping for a plum tie.
“We want to push for promotion this season but cup runs bring momentum, put smiles on faces and add to togetherness,” he said.
"Hopefully we can have some good days out. You want a good away tie. Two years ago we went up to South Shields, who have a great set-up, and we matched them for long spells.
"Someone at that sort level or one of the big boys from up here would be nice.”
Best of the rest
Two-time winners Bury will need a replay if they are to make it through after a 1-1 draw at Stalybridge Celtic, Kai Evans’ first-half volley cancelled out by Jack Irlam’s free-kick for the hosts early in the second period in front of 1,525 fans.
The world’s oldest football club, Sheffield FC, were knocked out by Bootle, who ran out 3-0 winners courtesy of debutant Harry Rimmer’s brace and a penalty from Courtney Duffus.
Last season’s top scorer in the competition, Gary Lockyer, picked up where he left off with a goal in Ashford United’s 4-1 win over Holmesdale.
Ninth-tier Soul Tower Hamlets overcame Hanworth Villa, from the level above, 3-2 in an exciting contest in the capital while Sevenoaks Town won an eight-goal thriller 5-3 at Corinthian Casuals.
Callum Rose’s 88th-minute winner settled a barnstorming tie at Brixham, who overcame Mousehole 4-3. The Cornish visitors had come back from 3-1 down to level it before Rose won it for the home side at the death.
And there were remarkable fightbacks for both Abbey Hulton United, who came from 3-0 down to beat Coventry United 4-3 with a stoppage time winner from Daniel Cocks, and Hanley Town, who were 2-0 down with 20 minutes to go at Belper United but ended up winning 5-2.
See the full list of results here.
Photo courtesy of Joe Gorman/Bishop Auckland FC.
