A change of mindset at half time helped West Auckland to beat Whitley Bay 4-3 in a thrilling comeback in the third round of the Buildbase FA Vase on Saturday.

West trailed 3-1 to the four-time winners at one point, but three goals in the last 25 minutes put them into the last 32 and rewarded the hard work of their volunteers in clearing their pitch.

Manager Gary Forrest said; “In the first half, everything seemed to go against us. We were losing 2-1, had missed a penalty and their keeper had pulled off some good saves.

“So, I told the lads that if they were to think that it wasn’t going to be our day, then we would lose for certain. They went out for the second half determined that they would genuinely win and that’s what they did when they went 3-1 down.

“If you were a neutral at the game, you would have got at least double your money’s worth with everything that happened. We scored our winner in the eighth minute of stoppage time, and in the 11th minute of stoppage time Lewis Galpin somehow managed to clear off our line.

“The lads showed great character to get back into the game and win it.”

West went behind after 16 minutes when Alex Kempster scored from the spot after Kyle Patton was brought down by West keeper Adam McHugh, and five minutes he fired another from a Liam Brooks pass.

West were awarded a penalty themselves on the half hour, but Anthony Bell’s effort hit the inside of both posts before being cleared, and then Whitley keeper Tom Flynn pulled off excellent saves from Nathan Fisher and Adam Mitchell.

West pulled a goal back at the start of the second half when Nathan Fisher headed in a Mitchell free kick from the right, but on the hour Kempster completed his hat trick with a header from a right wing cross to make the score 3-1.

However, West again got back into the game when Darren Richardson turned in a Mitchell free kick from the left, and then on 74 minutes he levelled from another Mitchell setpiece.

And eight minutes into stoppage time Arran Wearmouth fired the winner after the ball came back to him off the bar.

West will be joined in the next round by three other Northern League clubs.

Marske United came back from Runcorn Linnets with an excellent 3-2 win, although they nearly let a three goal lead slip.

Craig Gott gave Marske the lead with an excellent free kick just on half time, and on 57 minutes it was 2-0 when Gott crossed from the right for Leon Carling to head in.

The game seemed to be over on the hour when Gott broke clear and was brought down in the area, and he scored from the spot.

However, Runcorn caused some anxious moments when they pulled a goal back from the spot, and then another from long distance, but Marske held on.

Manager Carl Jarrett said; “We didn’t really get going in the first half, and we were still on the bus to an extent. It was a small pitch, and we didn’t really knock it around until the second half. We were more direct in the second half.

“I don’t mind who we get in the next round, either home or away.”

Stockton Town are through after an excellent 1-0 home win over City of Liverpool on the 3G at Bishopton Road.

Stockton missed three chances before they took the lead with a low left foot shot by Fred Woodhouse that went under the visiting keeper, and they missed two more good chances to increase their lead before half time.

Liverpool improved in the second half, were more of a threat and Stockton keeper Michael Arthur made two good saves, but Stockton regrouped and held on for the win that keeps their great run going. Chris Stockton hit the post in the last minute for them.

Manager Micky Dunwell said; “We had the better of the play in the first half, and we heard them getting a telling off from their manager at half time. We knew they would come at us because they had some very good players. We rode our luck at times in the second half but our back four, keeper and two holding centre midfielders were excellent in the second half.

“It’s a great achievement. It’s only 18 months ago we were playing in a school field with a white fence around it.”

Newcastle Benfield beat former winners North Shields 3-1, Paul Brayson scoring a hat trick.

In the only ENL game to be played, Durham City are now up to seventh in the ENL Second Division after beating West Allotment 2-1 on their 3G pitch.

Kieran McWaters put Durham in front on 2 minutes, then Callum Smith scored the second on 79. Allotment scored their consolation in the last minute through Rui Martins.

Durham manager Olly Hotchkiss said; “It was an excellent result against a good side. We performed really well in the first half but dropped off in the second. We had some real good moments to enlarge the scoreline but failed to convert. But I was pleased with the players and proud of the effort.”