TEN man Wallington got the better of their Northern Alliance rivals Ponteland United in a pulsating cup tie. 

The two Premier Division sides met in the first round of the Northumberland FA Les Todd Senior Benevolent Bowl at Ponteland on Saturday. 

The match was concluded at the third time of asking. 

First it was postponed, then a rearranged fixture two weeks ago was abandoned after Wallington’s Ben Fenwick suffered a serious knee injury.

Fenwick, who was taken to hospital by ambulance, is now recovering at home, and is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

When the sides met again last Saturday, Wallington ran out 1-0 winners, with centre-half Jonny Edwards heading the only goal of the game after 88 minutes. 

However, it had been far from plain sailing for the visitors, who saw Josh Willis sent off after 35 minutes.

The midfielder saw red for retaliation after he was on the receiving end of a tackle. 

Wallington’s Kyle Reardon said: “It was a good cup tie. Ponteland are a good side and we had to work extremely hard after going a man down.”

After lining-up in a 4-3-3 formation, Wallington re-grouped, and saw the game out effectively after changing their shape to 4-4-1.

“Our goalkeeper Aaron Carr made some great saves and he was man of the match,” said Reardon.

“Ponteland put us under a lot of pressure at times but we stuck at our task, and everyone played their part.”

With two minutes remaining on the clock, the visitors won a free-kick 25-yards out. 

Edwards was sent forward for the set-piece, and as the cross came in, the defender headed home the winner.

The two sides will return to league action this Saturday.

Fourth-placed Ponteland will travel to Premier Division leaders Newcastle University, who play their home matches at Kimberly Park in Prudhoe. 

Wallington, who are currently eighth in the table, with games in hand on teams above them, will host AFC Killingworth. 

Haltwhistle Jubilee’s match away to Wideopen A, in the Tyneside Amatueur League, last weekend, was postponed. 

On Saturday, the Jubes, who are third in the league with games in hand, will travel to Gosforth Bohemian Reserves for another league fixture.