West Auckland missed a chance to go third in the ENL First Division when they lost 5-2 at Dunston last night.

West got off to a great start and were two goals up inside the first 12 minutes with two headers by Elliott Gardner, the first from a John Campbell corner, and the second from a Neil Pattison cross. Campbell then hit the post from a free kick.

Dunston pulled a goal back through a low shot by Andy Bulford from the edge of the box, and on 40 minutes Stephen Pickering crossed for Danny Craggs to score in the bottom corner.

Just on half time, Stephen Goddard broke away and lobbed West keeper Chris Mullen from 25 yards. It was 4-2 on 70 minutes when Bulford ran through from a Goddard pass and fired home, and they scored a fifth against West for the second time this season in stoppage time when Mattie Fisher scored from a Lewis Teesdale pass.

Dunston manager Billy irwin said: "We had a poor start, but once we scored, we played some good stuff. We're delighted with the result."

West Auckland manager Peter Dixon said: "I thought we were on top for the first 30 minutes, but despite the result, I'm still happy with our level of performance."