It was a busy weekend in the FA Cup and the Northern League.

Olly Hotchkiss could not hide his pride after Easington Colliery battled their way to a goalless draw in Friday night's visit to Northern Counties East League club Pickering Town.

After going out of last season’s FA Cup with an extra preliminary round with a defeat at Heaton Stannington, the Colliers have already gone one better with a 3-1 home win against Boro Rangers at the same stage of this season’s competition.

Easington Colliery manager Olly Hotchkiss (photo Konner Wells) | Konner Wells

placeholder image — Easington Colliery manager Olly Hotchkiss (photo Konner Wells) | Konner Wells

And they still have a chance of reaching the first qualifying round for the first time since 2001 after battling to a draw at Mill Lane on Friday night that will see both clubs go into Monday’s draw. Hotchkiss described the game as ‘entertaining’ and challenged his players to add more quality in attacking areas when the replay takes place this week.

He told The Echo: “We are really proud of the effort from the lads in what was one of the most entertaining goalless draws I’ve been involved with. It was like a basketball match at times. I thought the players showed great character to bounce back from the Blue Star game and on another night we win the game. We look forward to the replay but need to make sure we have the same mentality with a little more quality in the final third.”

Elsewhere on Saturday, Horden CW saw their FA Cup run brought to an end despite putting in a brave performance at Northern Premier League East Division club Bishop Auckland. Dean Thexton’s brace was enough to see off Jonny Payne’s side - although Kieran Voss gave the Marras some hope when he halved the deficit. However, an equaliser and the possibility of forcing a replay remained out of reach as Horden’s FA Cup run came to an end at the Vest Construction Stadium.

FA Cup preliminary round results: Pickering Town 0-0 Easington Colliery, Guisborough Town 0-0 Redcar Athletic, Northallerton Town 2-2 Kendal Town, Birtley Town 2-2 Shildon, Newton Aycliffe 2-3 Newcastle Blue Star, Bishop Auckland 2-1 Horden CW, Heaton Stannington 3-0 Marske United, Pontefract Collieries 1-0 Blyth Spartans, Thornaby 1-2 Dunston UTS

Boldon boss calls for focus after Red Star draw

Boldon CA are hoping for a positive season in the Northern League's second tier (photo Jess Kelly) | Jess Kelly

Boldon CA joint manager Dan Crooks has called on his players to focus on another tough week after they battled to a point at Northern League Division Two leaders Seaham Red Star.

The hosts went into the game looking to extend their unbeaten run to a seventh game as they look to bounce back from relegation into step six at the first attempt. However, it was Boldon, who have lost just one of their league games so far, that grabbed the first goal as Liam Heywood opened the scoring on the half-hour.

Ryan Appleby got Red Star back on level-terms by the time the half-time whistle had been blown but Heywood restored Boldon’s advantage ten minutes after the restart. However, the points were shared as Red Star defender Mason Burton grabbed an equaliser six minutes from time to ensure his side’s seasonal record remained unblemished.

Boldon now return to home soil for a double header with Ryton and Crawcrook Albion and Billingham Synthonia over the coming days - and Crooks has already turned his attention towards two tough tests.

He told The Echo: “It was a solid point ultimately. Both sides probably think they could’ve won it but I think it’s a fair result. The sin-bin came after the referee failed to send their player off for bringing our striker through as last man and that’s very frustrating but it definitely shifted the momentum in Seaham’s favour. It was just one of them I guess but we’ll take the point and move onto another two tough games this week.”

Elsewhere on Saturday, Sunderland RCA battled a goalless draw with in-form Alnwick Town, Bryan Norton scored a brace and Zouhair Benali also scored in Sunderland West End’s 3-0 win at Park View as Joe Walton’s side made it just one defeat in their last four games.

Other Division Two results: Billingham Town 3-2 Durham United, Chester-le-Street Town 1-1 AFC Newbiggin, Darlington Town 2-0 Jarrow, FC Hartlepool 1-0 Yarm and Eaglescliffe, Grangetown Boys Club 1-1 Newcastle University, Prudhoe YC 0-1 Redcar Town, Ryton and Crawcrook Albion 8-0 Esh Winning, Tow Law Town 2-3 Billingham Synthonia

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