Bamber Bridge 3, Dunston 2 BAMBER Bridge edged their way into the second qualifying round of the FA Cup beating Dunston FB 3-2 in a close fought first round replay.

Brig travelled to the North East for the victory on Tuesday night (Sept 16) after being unable to break the deadlock in a 1-1 draw at Irongate on Saturday (Sept 13).

The first game was a dour affair watched by a sparse crowd of less than 200 people which lacked anything until just before the half time interval.

Two minutes before the break a spectacular 20 yard effort from Brig's Ashley Hoskin was saved by Dunston keeper Andy Hutchinson who then got up to save a follow up shot from Ged Walsh.

But despite the acrobatics the second rebound fell at the feet of Shaun Burnsall who tucked the ball away to give Brig the lead.

This should have given the home side the platform to go on and build a comfortable victory but seconds after scoring they were counting the cost of some lax defending.

Brig goalkeeper Mike Finch couldn't claim a high cross by Gary McDonald and Andy Bowes pounced for the equaliser.

Manager Martin Eatough must have had strong words for his troops in the interval because they were far more impressive in the second half.

But the visitors took a rearguard action and soaked up what were in the main very predictable attacks.

Ian Vickers and Neil Spencer came close in the second period but the team had to settle for a 1-1 draw and replay.

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