Bedlington manager Tony Lowery is looking forward to a reunion when his side travel to Marske in the quarter finals of the FA Carlsberg Vase on March 3.

Lowery was a teammate of Marske manager Charlie Bell when both were at Mansfield earlier in their careers.

Lowery said: "We had a brief spell at Mansfield when we were younger. When I got there, he was just leaving, so we were only team mates for a couple of months.

"We still have a chat when we bump into each other."

The Northern League had hoped for a Marske-Bedlington final, but at least the league is guaranteed a place in the semi-final.

"I think we've been a little bit unlucky getting another away draw," said Lowery.

"Marske will be a tough place to go to, because there'll be a big crowd and it will be just like a derby atmosphere.

"But it could have been worse, we didn't want to go to either Taunton or Chippenham.

"We'll be taking at last 300 fans down, so there should be a crowd of well over 1,000.

"A lot of people in the North-East will be taking an interest in the game, and it should be a cracking cup tie."

Shildon manager Ray Gowan is looking for an assistant at Dean Street.

Gowan, one of the longest serving managers in the league, feels that the introduction of an assistant will give the club the boost it needs ahead of next season.

Shildon are almost out of the promotion hunt this time round, and Gowan said: "We're starting to look at next season.

"I want an assistant who can help to bring new ideas and motivate the players."

Shildon are hoping that their fortunes will take an upturn, now that local businessman Gordon Hampton has taken over as chairman from Bill Aisbitt.

"Gordon is providing financial backing for the club, and is doing a brilliant job. We're going to give it a real go."

The club is also looking for a commercial manager.

Brandon United went through to the final of the Albany Durham Challenge Cup with a 2-0 home win over West Auckland on Tuesday night.

There were very few chances in the first half, with Brandon's Dave Robson putting the best chance wide from a left wing cross.

West Auckland came more into the game in the second half, but Brandon took the lead after 75 minutes, when Steve Huggins crossed from the right for Michael Cunningham to head past Darren Ablewhite.

West Auckland piled on the pressure in the closing minutes with Paul Stout having a shot blocked, but Brandon got the second in the last minute.

Dave Robson burst away between two defenders, and even though Ablewhite blocked his shot, Huggins was on hand to steer the ball into the empty net.

Tow Law's chances of making it an all Northern League final were dashed when they lost 5-1 at Bishop Auckland on Wednesday night. Bishops took the lead with a powerful right foot shot from Andrew Shaw after just 52 seconds, then Shaw added the second from the spot after Jeff Smith had been fouled.

David Bayles sidefooted in the third just before half time, and in the second half Danny Brunskill with a left foot shot and Shaw with a header made it 5-0. David Tremble ran through to pull a goal back for Tow Law.

Dunston Federation came back from two goals down against Easington to keep their title challenge on course.

Easington led 2-0 at one stage with two goals from Ian Matthews, but Tony Healer (2) and Billy Irwin hit back for Dunston.

Chester-le-Street maintained their improvement with a 1-0 home win over Guisborough, defender Damien Maw heading the only goal from a set piece.

Guisborough had Matty Hysen sent off for two bookable offences.

Chester have signed keeper Ian Aitken from Tow Law.

Whitley Bay were beaten 3-0 at home by Jarrow Roofing. Paul Chow scored twice from Roofing, while Whitley Bay defender Chris Neil put through his own goal. Bedlington beat Marske 2-0 on Wednesday night to move into second place, nine points behind Durham with seven games in hand. Richie Bond got the first with a deflected shot, then new signing Robert Cockburn crossed for Christian Graham to add the second. Billingham Town are through to the last eight of the league cup after beating Seaham Red Star 3-0.

Paul Rowntree, Carl Chillingsworth and David Solen were on target.

Bedlington moved into the quarter finals of the League cup on Monday night with a 4-0 home win over Alnwick. John Milner took his tally for the season to 35 with two goals while Christian Graham and Phil Hildreth scored the others.

In the Second Division, Whickham came from behind to win 2-1 at Murton. David Baxter put Murton into the lead after 55 minutes, but Tim Wilson equalised and Chris Holmes got the winner.

Ian Williams gave Norton an early lead at Penrith but Anthony Rayson equalised for the Cumbrians.

l Evenwood will be wearing a new kit for their game at Shildon tomorrow - thanks to a an additional sponsorship deal with Durham Structures Limited whose name will be on their blue strip.

Division One

P W D L F A Pts

Durham City 28 17 5 6 67 30 56

Bedlington 21 15 2 4 63 18 47

Billingham Syn 23 14 4 5 55 37 46

Peterlee 23 14 4 5 45 31 46

Dunston 21 13 5 3 56 26 44

Guisborough 24 10 4 10 38 36 34

Marske 18 9 5 4 31 16 32

Brandon 23 9 5 9 42 36 32

Chester-le-Street 21 10 1 10 39 28 31

Billingham Town 17 9 3 5 35 22 30

Tow Law 20 9 3 8 46 35 30

Seaham 22 9 2 11 39 63 29

Jarrow Roofing 25 7 7 11 42 49 28

Whitley Bay 19 8 3 8 33 28 27

Consett 21 8 3 10 29 35 27

Newcastle BS 20 7 5 8 31 41 26

West Auckland 20 6 5 9 23 32 23

Easington 17 5 2 10 27 37 17

Morpeth 22 4 4 14 24 51 16

Hebburn 22 2 4 16 21 56 10

Crook Town 23 1 2 20 17 101