Match ReportDaily Mail FootballUnverified source· 21 Sept 2026
South Shields hit seven as depleted Witton crash out
A defensive crisis and a five-hour bus journey ended in a seven-goal FA Cup thrashing on the Tyneside coast.
South Shields
team
Competition
FA Cup Second Qualifying Round
Score
South Shields 7 Witton Albion 0
Venue
South Shields' ground
Missing
Ebhote and Rutherford
What happened. South Shields beat eighth-tier Witton Albion 7-0 in the FA Cup Second Qualifying Round. Witton were without both first-choice centre-halves, leaving 35-year-old manager Benny Harrison to name himself a substitute.
- Witton's Geffry Ebhote and Wade Rutherford were both absent due to longstanding social commitments, one on a stag do.
- The visitors' five-hour trip north was delayed 30 minutes by a crash on the A19.
- South Shields sit two leagues above Witton in the pyramid.
“Last time I played myself, I thought I was going to get sacked and I came on and we won six games in a row!”
— Benny Harrison
The Daily Mail's journey-to-Wembley series now follows South Shields, who advance in the competition.
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