Dunston progressed to the 1st Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup for the fifth successive season after a dramatic 2-1 win away at Thornaby.

Phil Turnbull opened the scoring with a deflected free-kick midway through the first, notching his first goal since April 2022. Seconds after the restart, Dale Milburn equalised for the hosts before Liam Thear found himself in the right place at the right time deep into stoppage time to send Dunston through to the next round.

Jon McDonald, in his 100th game in charge, made one change from Tuesday's win at Blyth Town with Josh Donaldson being replaced by Dan Turner, with Sado Djalo operating centrally. Club captain Michael Pearson was named on the bench after missing out on Tuesday's action.

The game started quick, with the first chances of the game coming inside the first 15 minutes, and both coming Dunston’s way. The first of these saw Wil Shaw in behind the Thornaby defence, his shot forcing the ‘keeper into a save on 11 minutes. Minutes later, Chris McDonald delivered a cross for Harvey Neary, but his header was claimed comfortably by Alderson.

Ten minutes later saw Sado Djalo upended on the edge of the Thornaby penalty area. Up stepped Phil Turnbull, his free kick deflecting wickedly into the far corner and giving Dunston a fortuitous, albeit deserved lead on 27 minutes.

From then on it was all Dunston, the best chance seeing Wil Shaw again bursting in behind the Thornaby back line, this time only being denied by an excellent last ditch challenge, bringing us into the half-time interval with Dunston leading by a goal.

Thornaby immediately drew level after half time, as within twenty seconds of the start of the second half, Dale Milburn found himself free in the Dunston penalty area and made no mistake with the finish.

Dunston took this setback as an opportunity to pile on the pressure and created chances. The first saw Rory Edwards in a good position on the edge of the box, but his shot was wayward and didn’t trouble ‘keeper Alderson.

Just a few minutes later, Phil Turnbull sent one of his trademark deliveries into the Thornaby box, which was met with the head of David Robinson, whose header cracked the crossbar and bounced clear.

Thornaby created a good chance of their own just a few minutes later, calling Jude Swailes into action to make a series of impressive blocks to deny them.

Minutes later, a cross found the head of substitute JJ O’Donnell, whose header beat the keeper but bounced off the post and away, another let off for the Thornaby defence.

The chances started coming thick and fast for Dunston now, with both Fin Neary and JJ O’Donnell forcing the Alderson into action to keep the score level.

With the game nearing the end and a replay looking inevitable, Thornaby had a chance to end the tie there and then, with Shaun Ryder in space in the Dunston box. He tried to get a shot away, but fell over his own feet and Dunston cleared. From this clearance, Dunston countered and the ball ended up in the Thornaby six-yard box. From the ensuing scramble, a clearance hit Liam Thear and beat the goalkeeper, sealing the tie in dramatic fashion.

Dunston progress to the 1st Round Qualifying with the draw to take place on Monday afternoon.

Report by Liam Foggin