HARROGATE Railway Athletic are £7,500 the richer after they secured a trip to Blyth Spartans in the FA Cup third qualifying round.

Ian Hart and Ian McLean netted the vital goals to ensure Railway finally overcame old foes Liversedge 2-1 at the second attemp- - giving boss Paul Marshall the 39th birthday present he badly craved.

Railway did not have the best of starts, losing influential skipper Danny Ames with a badly twisted right knee after just six minutes, but they regrouped well.

Sal Njie, given his first start since signing from Knaresborough Town, was a constant threat, while Steve Davey did not give Liversedge a moment's rest all night.

Former Railway ace Matt Flynn went close for the visitors, with his 30-yard effort striking the bar, while at the other end Njie dispossessed keeper Chris Simpson only to blast over.

Davey was also guilty of missing a gilt-edged chance when he fired the ball across the face of the goal, but the diminutive front-man made amends when he won a penalty four minutes before the break. McLean stepped up to fire home.

Railway continued to push after half-time, with Davey again enjoying the best of the chances. But it was Hart, a replacement for Ames, who gave the home side a vital 2-0 lead, scrambling home Jimmy Wright's pull-back.

With the tie slipping away, Liversedge pushed everything forward - Matt Sykes, Flynn and Andy Graham all going close.

Sykes finally pulled one back for the visitors with 18 minutes left, but the Railway defence, marshalled superbly by Phil Walker, saw off the danger.

Harrogate Town have doubts over the fitness of four key players as they look to join rivals Railway in the third qualifying round, with Vauxhall Motors awaiting the winners of their replay at Burscough tonight.

Manager John Reed will be without Saturday's goal-scorer Michael Ord for the clash, as the former Halifax right-back is due in hospital this morning to remove a lump from his groin.

Skipper Robbie Whellans (hamstring) is rated as doubtful, while player-coach Neil Aspin and Peter Atkinson both face late fitness tests.

Despite this, Reed is confident of securing a trip to Vauxhall, especially after seeing his side go so close on Saturday.

"If we had taken our chances we could have won by four and five goals," he said. "It only takes a second to score - they had one chance and found the back of the net, whereas we had several chances and just the one goal.

"We will now have to give it our best shot tonight - there is no way we are travelling all the way to Merseyside not to try our best."

Pickering Town will be aiming to put Saturday's agonising 2-1 FA Cup defeat against Accrington Stanley behind them when they return to action in the Northern Counties East League premier division.

The Pikes entertain Eccleshill tonight (kick-off 7.45pm) conscious of the fact they could quite easily have been in the hat for the third qualifying round.

But they will find themselves up against an Eccleshill side suffering their own FA Cup blues after losing 5-0 to Blyth Spartans.

Boss Jimmy Reid said: "I'm sure it will be a case of two teams sparring it out after their own FA Cup disappointments.

"Eccleshill have always been grafters, so it will be a tough game for us, but one where I'm sure I can get a result."

Pickering Town: from Mitchell, McMillian, Sturdy, Thornton, McAuley, Wilgrass, Farthing, Connor, Zoll, Wash, Reid, Wood, O'Reilly, Dickinson, Chapman, Morton.

Updated: 11:28 Tuesday, October 02, 2001