Durham City produced one of their best performances of the season when they thumped fourth bottom Bedlington 6-1 – and then management pair Adam Furness and Ian Skinner were bizarrely sacked.

After the game which saw City climb to seventh in the table, chairman Olivier Bernard told them that they were sacked, much to their surprise.

“We were told that we have been too close to the players regarding some issues, and it was felt that we weren’t getting the best out of the players,” said Skinner. “ We were told that it was best that we left the club because we hadn’t progressed as much as the club wanted, yet we’ve lost only twice in the league this year and recently taken points off two of the teams chasing the league. We were very shocked. We’ve had a lot of messages from other clubs, players and fans, for which we’re very grateful, and hopefully we’ll get back into management.”

City general manager Lawrence Appleby refused to answer any questions, except saying that the club will release a statement today, but the sacking has gone down very badly amongst the fans.

There is speculation that former Newcastle and Southampton defender Bernard will be taking charge himself for the time being, with former pros Gary Bennett and Dean Gordon also involved in some capacity. The club is advertising for a new manager, and want applications by April 2nd.

The fans couldn’t complain about the level of entertainment in the game. City took the lead after 5 minute when Jack Walker scored from a rebound, but Bedlington levelled when Dylan Williamson scored with a superb 25 yarder.

Durham regained the lead just on half time when Scott Fenwick scored from the edge of the box, then Chris Moore set him up for the third seven minutes after half time. A flowing move ended with Fenwick setting up Ian Ward to score the fourth from a few yards, then Fenwick completed his hat trick from 12 yards. Sub Nicky Allen completed the scoring in stoppage time.