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Team Northumbria take on Darlington RA this afternoon buoyed by a big derby win against West Allotment Celtic.
Colin Stromsoy’s team booked themselves a place in the quarter-finals of the Northumberland Senior Cup with an important 2-0 win.
Goals from Michael Sauer and Joel Bradley either side of half time secured the victory at Whitley Park.
The TN manager was delighted with the result and hopes to carry their recent run of form into Saturday’s match.
“I’m really pleased with the win,” said Stromsoy. “It was a very good performance against a very strong Division One side.”
“It was never going to be the most fluid performance - we had a number of second and third team players involved and most had never played together.”
Austrian Sauer opened the scoring for TN on the half hour mark, in front of his parents, who’d made the 1000 mile trip to watch the game.
“It was a nice occasion for Michael,” added Stromsoy. “He got his debut and his first goal for TN which was excellent.
“Steven Mundy put in a real captain's performance – his handling, concentration and communication were all excellent.”
The focus now is very much onan important Northern League second division match away to Darlington.
“They’re a strong team who beat high flyers Blyth a few weeks ago so it’s going to be difficult,” added Stromsoy.
“They’re more than capable of a great performance on their day and they’ll definitely be up for it.
“It will be tough but I believe in the boys and their ability and the programme that we have here.
“The games are piling up – we’ve got a lot of fixtures coming up in the next few weeks and a few frustrating injury problems.
“Kane White is out for three months and Ben Dibb-Fuller and Angelos Eleftheriadis have both recently picked up knocks.
“We can’t be complacent, it has to be the same focus and determination we’ve had all season if we are to get three points.”