IT is our sad duty to report that Sunderland were yesterday knocked out of the FA Cup.This news will undoubtedly cause much heartbreak across the North-East, and there were undoubtedly tears on the final whistle.

The result will also lay Sunderland fans open to taunting and ridicule from their old enemies to the north, Newcastle, and their newer rivals to the south, Carling Cup winners Middlesbrough.

Despite being aware of the distress and despair that further publicity of the result will cause, The Northern Echo has decided to publish the 1-0 scoreline. Indeed, we are also reporting that Barnard Castle School lost the final of the Schools Rugby Cup at Twickenham 48-0 - a scoreline some might consider a "trouncing", although we would not be prepared to comment.

Because last week, a newspaper in Derbyshire was criticised for describing as a "trouncing" a 28-0 football defeat of a junior team. The league in which the game was played has now said that no defeat of more than 14-0 will in future be reported, to save the feelings of the losers.

Yesterday came similar news from Edinburgh. If a school is inflicting a defeat of 5-0 or more on an opponent by half-time, the score will be cancelled and the second half will kick-off at 0-0. Apparently, there are also plans for the losing side in the Under 12s seven-a-side league to start the second half with nine players.

These plans are to be extended throughout Scotland in 2005.

Of course, junior sports must be as much about having fun as pursuing victory, and children will have their feelings hurt if they are trounced on a regular basis.

Yet defeats do act as a valuable spur to children who must also be prepared for the unpleasant failings that they will encounter throughout life.

And by whitewashing the result, the real achievement is often overlooked. Both Sunderland and Barnard Castle deserve great credit for progressing so far in their competitions - credit they can only claim if we acknowledge that they defeated other sides along the way.

It is also ironic that this move away from competitive sports comes at a time when the Government is putting more and more pressure on teachers and children to improve exam results so that their schools can be placed higher up the league table.