Dale Eve and his Spennymoor Town team exited the Emirates FA Cup last night when they lost 3-2 away to Southport in a third qualifying round replay.

In what was termed a “proper FA Cup tie”, Spennymoor led 2-1 at the half after Dale Eve, their Bermuda goalkeeper, saved a penalty late in the half before the visiting side were reduced to ten men when Stephen Thompson was sent off for a high challenge.

Eve saved a penalty from Marcus Carver in the fourteenth minute, going to his right to keep out the spot-kick. Moments later Southport took the lead when a corner to the back post was converted by Doug Thame.

There was plenty of drama in the last ten minutes of the half as Spennymoor scored twice to lead at the break. Glenn Taylor equalised in the 36th minute from a Scott McLean cross into the box.

Two minutes later they netted again, this time Brad Abbott finding the net when he converted a loose ball from a free kick, driving his effort into the bottom corner for a 2-1 lead.

The tie still had another twist, as the home team scored two unanswered goals themselves in the 58th and 72nd minutes to clinch a thrilling 3-2 victory.

Eve made a good save to keep out a header before Jordan Archer followed up to score the rebound and level the score at 2-2.

Carver was the Southport hero minutes later when he followed up after a header hit the crossbar to score from close range to secure the win.