SECOND half goals from Luke Banks and David Burns steered Prudhoe YC Seniors into the last 16 of the Northumberland FA Minor Cup.

The Northern Alliance Division One side travelled to the Northumberland coast to take on Ellington, who are ninth in the league below, and came away with a 2-1 victory.

Prudhoe, riding high in second place in their division, made their quality count as they dominated possession in the opening stages, but it wasn’t always straightforward.

Club secretary Duncan Graham said: “We played some good football and attacked Ellington, getting down the flanks.

“They are a good, well organised side, and they made it difficult for us. There weren’t many clear cut chances in that first half and that is credit to Ellington for the way they kept us at bay.”

After creating little more than a few half chances in the first half, Prudhoe stamped their authority on the game after the interval. On 50 minutes, Darren Graham cut the ball back to man of the match Luke Banks, who fired a low shot into the bottom corner from 25 yards to make it 1-0.

On the 70th minute mark, Prudhoe doubled their advantage after an effective team move down the left side.

Kieran Russel laid the ball off to Banks, who squared a pass into the path of David Burns. The latter cut inside from the left and found the bottom corner from 15 yards to make it 2-0.

The hosts pulled a goal back on 80 minutes, when a cross from the right was headed into the path of an Ellington man, who fired home.

Graham added: “Ellington didn’t give up. They threw everything at us, but we always felt as though we were in control of the game and could have won by more.”

After a run of cup games and away fixtures, Prudhoe will return to Kimberly Park on Saturday for a home match against Whitburn & Cleadon in the league. Both sides have had impressive starts to the league season and Whitburn are just two points behind Prudhoe, in fourth place.

They will be eager to get a positive result on the board, having played one game more than their visitors.