Hockey: Whitley Bay stand defiant

Whitley Bay are not exactly looking forward to their three and a half hour trip to Crosby tomorrow for their North Second Division game, but it is nothing compared with the journey Clifton, last year's Cup finalists, will have to make to Northumberland to play them in the women's EHA Cup fourth-round tie on Sunday.

The junior northern club, playing at this stage of the competition for the first time, are not overawed. Fiona Atkinson, the Whitley Bay captain who scored the winning goal at East Grinstead in the last round, said: "We just hope we will do ourselves justice. We are an experienced team and a good mix. We are none the wiser about Clifton's big names, so we will not be intimidated."

- Bill Colwill