Whitehaven progressed to the next round of the Divisional Cup in the Northern League but only after a disjointed performance.

They beat Darlington RA, a team in the lower reaches of Division Two, 5-2 but only after extra time.

With several new signings in their side, Darlington took the game to their hosts and played excellent football on a greasy surface.

It was no surprise when youngster Glen Donaldson opened the scoring for the visitors, turning defenders in the box, and firing in past home 'keeper Jack Fryer.

The hosts worked hard without any real venom, but Stephen Priestley was unlucky to see his effort skim the bar after he made room for himself on the edge of the area.

Darlington midfielders McKie and Ripley did well to frustrate the home attacks and prevented the ball getting to Whitehaven's danger players.  Donaldson then doubled his team's advantage with a clever chip over Fryer's head following good work from Burton. Michael Colman had the chance to put his side out of sight just before the break, but he hit the crossbar.

Whatever manager Martin Harris said at the break had an immediate effect, and the introduction of Mally Holliday from the bench gave much needed impetus to the home side.  From his cross on 49 minutes, David Dustin turned the ball home, then soon afterwards Stuart Shaw nodded in from Craig Robson's well placed cross to bring the sides level. 

The hosts were creating far more at this stage than they did in the first half, and Darlington were fighting to stay in the game, but gradually the visitors started to climb back into the match, and play swung from end to end to produce an excellent game of football.

The sides were locked at 2-2 at the final whistle, and during the first period of extra time Robson wriggled free on the left and shot home powerfully under the despairing dive of Josh Moody. 

Two further goals were scored in the second period of extra time as both teams tired, and Dustin and Kev Connelly got on the scoresheet. 

The final score was probably a bit harsh on the Darlington side after their first half performance, but Whitehaven probably did enough in the remainder of the game to justify their place in the next round.

Manager Harris admitted: "We were very sloppy in the first half and came in 2-0 down. We talked at half-time about getting a goal back to give us a foothold in the game, and the players deserve the utmost credit for turning the game round .  The resilience in extra time was of a professional standard, and John and I are very proud of all of them."

With the weather preventing games against Sunderland RCA and Stokesley recently, it is hoped that Jarrow Roofing will make the game on Saturday at the Focus Scaffolding Sports Complex for their league fixture, kick off 3pm.

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