HALTWHISTLE Jubilee's county cup dreams were shattered by two goals in two minutes.

A quickfire double from Liam Brooks with 20 minutes remaining saw a valiant effort from the Hexham and District Sunday League champions go unrewarded, the strikes the difference as Morpeth side Amble Tavern lifted the Northumberland FA Sunday Cup.

Having scooped all eight trophies within the Hexham league in the past two years, Haltwhistle had their eyes firmly set on the biggest prize of all.

And the little town from the west of Northumberland did magnificently well to make the final two from the entire county, justifying their place at the Whitley Park showdown with a gutsy and battling performance in front of a large crowd.

Yet both teams seemed set up not to concede rather than go looking for goals, and it was Amble who stepped up and made their move with half an hour remaining as they cranked the pressure up on a tiring Haltwhistle.

It was a hard blow to take for Jubilee who battled for every ball and ran themselves into the ground for the cause. They were dominant in the air but unable to trouble the Tavern custodian.

Already having the difficult decision to leave three players out the match day squad of 16, Cameron Bell and assistant manager Alan Batey appeared to approach the team's biggest game in its history cautiously as they set their men up 3-5-2, utilising the experienced trio of Dan Kirkup, Gavin Cox and Mark Armstrong in the heart of defence.

And it was testament to their performance that, for more than an hour, they never gave Amble's dangerous front two pairing of Brooks and Josh Hay much of a sniff.

The back three were well supported by the '100 per centers' of Ryan Potts and Thomas Wilkie, both leaving everything they had on the pitch as they refused to give up.

Potts thundered into some full blooded challenges as he got up and down the pitch, but it was his teammate on the left wing who impressed most as Wilkie put in a man of the match display.

Defensively, he didn't put a foot wrong and managed to snuff any threat from Amble winger Matty Graham, who promised to be more tricky than he was after getting the crowd going with a Maradona turn in the first 30 seconds of the game!

Whereas many defenders would have struggled to cope with Graham's many flicks and tricks, young Wilkie had already read the next page by the time Graham turned over.

Running Wilkie close for top honours was fellow former Bardon Miller Jack Barker, who always looked to get in behind Amble's solid defence and looked the most likely to find a way through for Haltwhistle.

He partnered Shaun Johnstone up top whose main threat on the day was his long throw, constantly causing problems by getting the ball into the area as his towering teammates battled for the ball.

Haltwhistle dominated the midifield battle in the opening half mainly through to their aerial ability, both Jamie Peel and Reece Thirtle convincing with their headers while the more attack minded Mark Robson looked to get the moves going despite having little ball to feed from.

Meanwhile, proud Haltwhistle skipper Craig Summersgill looked commanding in goal as he collected balls into the area without fuss and was blameless for both of Amble's goals.

The first half of the contest was more of a chess game as both sides tried to feel the other one out as they sat back, although Haltwhistle did come close a couple of times through Johnstone throws.

Peel’s close range header was well gathered by the Amble goalkeeper, while Kirkup flicked a header over the top with five minutes of the half remaining. It proved a big moment, as the defender further aggravated an injury and limped for the remainder of the game to reduce his influence on proceedings.

From distance, Potts sent a well drilled shot just off target while Haltwhistle were indebted to Cox for a brave headed clearance at the other end while Summersgill did well to parry a clever volleyed back heel from Brooks round the corner of the goal.

As the second half started, Amble started to push further forwards as they pegged Haltwhistle back into their own half.

And the pressure told with just over 20 minutes remaining as Brooks beat Kirkup to a low cross from the right and coolly diverted the ball out of Summersgill's reach for the opener.

Within a minute, all hope for Haltwhistle was ultimately extinguished. From the kick off, substitute James Charteries found Wilkie with a measured pass, and a deep cross from the latter found the hands of Amble's number one.

Within seconds, the ball was pumped up field and Hay laid the ball on the plate for strike partner Brooks who side footed home his second in as many minutes to spark wild celebrations.

Afforded a lot more space and time, Brooks came within whiskers of completing his hat-trick when he sent a first time shot just wide soon after.

Haltwhistle battled on and went for broke by pushing Kirkup up front and introducing lively striker Greg Irwin from the bench, but they were frustrated by a well drilled Amble side who went on to lift the trophy high.

Their main aim for the remainder of the season is to retain the Hexham Sunday League title with five games to go, currently five points off leaders Hexham Phoenix with two games in hand.

They remain in second despite Prudhoe Social Club defeating Phoenix Chopwell 5-2 at the weekend, the goals coming from Stefan Rainbow, Shaun Stewart, Andrew Finnie, Darren Curry and man of the match James Curry. Curtis Lucas and Chris Bivona were on target for Chopwell, who had Glynn Taylor impressing.

Ryton Social Club's hopes of promotion from Division Two suffered a setback as they were beaten 2-1 by Haydon Bridge Anchor, who could still sneak a top two finish.

Man of the match Kev MacDonald was the match winner with a great goal, adding to a goal from teammate Mark Elliott. Ryton's goal came from their star performer Adam Bell.

The rest are playing for second spot with Heddon St Andrew's already confirmed as champions, looking to do it in style as they made it 14 wins from 14 league games with a thumping 11-1 victory at Swinburne Arms Stamfordham.

Man of the match Mark Murtagh, Jonathan Wood, Mark Richardson and Sean Hownam all bagged braces, with Michael Connelly, Andy Appleby and Scott Flynn also getting in on the act.

Tony Stephenson netted for Stamfordham who were best served by Sam Walton.