Darlington RA: After a fairly disappointing first half hour of the RA's home tie with Blyth Town in the Women's FA Cup first round, a precision Darlington goal was disallowed, ruled offside, from a free-kick taken by Becks Keeler.

Darlington always seemed to be the stronger side, up against the wind yet constantly forcing Blyth into their own half.

It was 0-0 half-time but three minutes into the second half Darlington's Natalie Wrangham confidently slot home. Shots from Natalie and Becks put the Blyth keeper under pressure and lifted the team spirit. Darlington's tireless back-four kept any advance from Blyth under firm control.

A forced change in tactics saw Darlington bring on Sarah Hewitson for Liz Lawrence and Katie Sweeting for Louise Leach, after Liz Lawrence was taken off injured.

With just 35 seconds to the final whistle, Blyth slotted home a hard-fought goal. The half time brief seemed to make Darlington a stronger, more confident side and they battled in an attempt to secure the game.

A perfect cross ball from Amy Westmarland saw Becks Keeler chip the keeper to make it 2-1 after 94mins of play.

Becks scored a second after 102mins to kill the game and put Darlington through to the second round, away to Liverpool.

Player of the game went to Liz Lawrence after an excellent performance in defence.

Chester-le-Street

Chester-le-Street made the journey to West Yorkshire to take on Kirklees of the Yorkshire & Humberside League Division One to decide which team takes on Lumley in the next round of the Women's FA Cup.

As the scoreline 13-0 suggests, this was a convincing performance from the Cestrians - even without Laura Gibbon and Rachel Young and the injured Leanne Clark. Rachel Weightman opened the scoring with Laura Darmody and Rachel Furness giving Chester a 3-0 first half lead.

The second half was one-way traffic with further goals from Weightman, Darmody (2), Furness (2), Vikki Ryder (2) (1 pen), Natalie Gutteridge (2) and Rachel Hedley.

This weekend Chester-le-Street are back in league action at Durham City, kick-off 2pm at Laurel Avenue School (Sherburn Road).

Durham City Ladies

Durham City Ladies put in an excellent performance against a good Windscale Ladies in the FA Cup to progress to the second qualifying round.

In the first half the game was quite evenly balanced, but City wingers Amanda Smith and Gemma Charlton were starting to find spaces behind the visitors from Cumbrians' defence. 17-year-old Emma Collinson opened the scoring for Durham City when she turned her marker in the box and blasted home with her left foot.

Just before half-time City got an important second goal. Ex-Sunderland player Gemma Charlton got the ball 30 yards out, beat two players and her shot was too hot for the Windscale goalkeeper to hold on to.

The second half was again quite tight but substitute Vicky Collier made it safe in the last few minutes with a good turn and shot. Windscale got a consolation goal to make the score 3-1 in injury time. A shame for the City defence not to keep a clean sheet as they had been outstanding all afternoon.

Durham County Girls/Womens Mini Soccer Leagues

The first ever Saturday soccer leagues for girls and women in the North-East will burst into action on September 27.

Forty-four teams will contest the inaugural Durham County Girls/Womens Mini Soccer Leagues with four sections involving players aged under ten, under-12, under-14 and under-16 years of age. Each team will play two half-hour, seven-a-side matches every Saturday at three venues: Chester le Street, Peterlee and Gateshead. The games will be played outdoors on grass.

There will be a winter break, and season will run from the end of September to mid-December and from the end of February to the beginning of May. The biggest section is the under-12s with 18 teams competing. Anyone interested in playing, coaching or refereeing in the league should contact Durham FA secretary John Topping on 0191 384 8653.

There are teams involved from as far afield as Northumberland and North Yorkshire. The Girls/Womens Leagues have been set up as an initiative by the Durham FA and are being sponsored by Durham County Council. There will be cup competitions as well as the league contest.

"This is a very exciting new development," said Topping, "everyone is very enthusiastic. Womens football in the region has so far been confined to a Sunday. Saturday competition will give girls and women a chance to coach or play with another team while still playing on a Sunday."