Dark day for north-east giants

IT was a dark day for the north east after all three teams from the region were on the wrong end of FA Cup third-round shocks on Saturday.

Sunderland were the biggest upset of the day as the eighth favourites for the competition crashed out at the first hurdle, losing 2-1 at home to Notts County, who were 15-2 pokes to prevail.

Steve Bruce made seven changes to the team who beat Aston Villa 1-0 on Wednesday and he was made to pay as the League One side went 2-0 up through Craig Westcarr and Lee Hughes before Darren Bent pulled one back.

Maybe Bruce had one eye on Sunday’s derby with Newcastle, who were also stunned with a 3-1 loss at League Two Stevenage.

A Mike Williamson own goal and further strikes from Michael Bostwick and Peter Winn gave 5-1 Borough a famous victory, while the Geordies also saw key midfielder Cheik Tote sent off.
Middlesbrough completed the unwanted north east treble as Burton scored twice in the final eight minutes to come from behind and seal a 2-1 success.

As well as Sunderland and Newcastle, two other Premier League teams crashed out with ten-man West Brom losing 1-0 at Reading and a much-changed Blackpool going down 2-0 to League One Southampton.

The Saints game certainly cannot be called a shock – they went off odds-on from 8-5 to beat Ian Holloway’s reserves with second-half goals from Lee Barnard and Guly Do Prado landed the gamble.

Elsewhere, top-flight teams Arsenal (1-1 v Leeds), Wolves (2-2 v Doncaster) and Stoke (1-1 v Cardiff) were all held to draws by lower-league opposition and 6-1 shots Leyton Orient stunned Norwich 1-0.

For a long time it looked as if the main story of the day would come at the Emirates as Championship side Leeds led 1-0 through a Robert Snodgrass penalty before a 90th-minute equaliser from Cesc Fabregas via a spot-kick gave the Gunners a replay.

Arsenal are 8-1 to win the FA Cup, while Everton were the big movers (12-1 from 16-1) after they destroyed Scunthorpe 5-1 at Glanford Park.