Robbie Dale, who works as a barman in his mum’s pub, momentarily glimpsed the role of FA Cup folk hero until the dream for his seventh-tier Blyth Spartans team evaporated yesterday.

On what is still sold as English football’s most romantic Saturday of the season, the FA Cup third round, the competition’s lowest-ranked survivors from the semi-pro Northern Premier League took a 2-0 half-time lead over Birmingham City with excellent goals from captain Dale.

Reality soon bit, though, with Championship Birmingham res-ponding emphatically early in the second half with three goals in 13 minutes, from Lee Novak and a double from Wes Thomas, to seal a 3-2 win.

At least Blyth’s efforts brought an old-fashioned glow to a day’s fare which, deprived of the biggest clubs who nearly all enter the fray today, offered no stories in the same fairytale mould.

There was heartbreak for Conference side Southport, who defended heroically at Championship high-flyers Derby County before succumbing to a last-gasp Chris Martin penalty.

Of the four Premier League teams in action, West Brom, with new manager Tony Pulis at the helm, thrashed Conference side Gateshead 7-0, with four goals from Saido Berahino, while Swansea City routed League Two strugglers Tranmere Rovers 6-2.

In the one all-top flight game, Leicester City gained welcome respite from their Premier League struggles when a first-half Leonardo Ulloa goal sunk managerless Newcastle United 1-0.

Blyth’s 30-year-old captain Dale, who is barman at The Blacksmith in Newcastle, must have fancied his chances of joining the likes of Ronnie Radford and Chris ‘the Leatherhead Lip’ Kelly as FA Cup immortals when he scored splendidly in the 35th and 41st minute.

Yet Dale, an unusual character who stopped playing football for two years before re-emerging in a pub team called The Balloon, says he does not get het up about football and was treating the match as just another game.

Which is just as well, considering how Birmingham spoiled all the fun with Novak’s 52nd-minute goal, followed by Thomas’s double in the space of three minutes.

Tom Wade, Blyth’s manager, told the BBC: “I’m exceptionally proud of the lads and how we performed today. Robbie Dale had a great game – two fantastic goals.

“The FA Cup for non-league players means everything, the world. It’s the biggest tournament for us, and it’s a pleasure to play in it.”

On a Saturday designed for the non-league Davids to go hunting for fairweather Goliaths, the only problem was that the Goliaths – like Manchester United who play at Yeovil – were mainly in action on Sunday.

Rampant Berahino

It all led to an underwhelming feel to a traditionally compelling day with the two Premier League clubs pitted against lowly opponents in no mood to mess around.

Pulis picked a strong West Brom side and was rewarded with Berahino looking in rampant mood amid the speculation which still surrounds his future at the Hawthorns.

With Victor Anichebe, Chris Brunt and James Morrison also on the scoresheet, Berahino, who scored his first three in 11 minutes either side of the break and added his fourth in the final minute, praised Pulis’s immediate impact.

“Tony Pulis is a big character and has put his stamp on the club already,” he said. “You could see that the lads were getting stuck in for him today.”

FA Cup – third round

Barnsley 0
M’Boro 2
Vossen 47; Ayala 84;

HT: 0-0. Att: 9,473.
Red card: Clayton (M) 77

Blyth Spart. 2
Dale 35, 41;
Birmingham 3
Novak 52; Thomas 55, 58;

HT: 2-0. Att: 3,644.

Bolton 1
Clough 76;
Wigan 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 16,788.

Brentford 0
Brighton 2
Dunk 88; Grady 90;

HT: 0-0. Att: 8,542.

Cambridge 2
Simpson 27; Donaldson 66;
Luton 1
Harriman 74;

HT: 1-0. Att: 7,063.

Charlton 1
Gudmundsson 55;
Blackburn 2
Taylor 4, 59;

HT: 0-1. Att: 8,727.

Derby 1
Martin 90 pen.;
Southport 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 20,201.

Doncaster 1
McCullough 50;
Bristol City 1
Smith 75;

HT: 0-0. Att: 5,671.

Fulham 0
Wolves 0

Att: 11,879.

Huddersfield 0
Reading 1
Blackman 69;

HT: 0-0. Att: 7,980.
Red card: Hogg (H) 90.

Leicester 1
Ulloa 39;
Newcastle 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 23,212.

Millwall 3
McDonald 36; Fuller 66, 83;
Bradford 3
Knott 6, 76; Nelson 70 og;

HT: 1-1. Att: 5,470.

Preston 2
Gallagher 71, 84;
Norwich 0

HT: 0-0. Att: 9,807.

Rochdale 1
Vincenti 12 pen.;
Nottm Forest 0

HT: 1-0. Att: 6,791.

Rotherham 1
Brindley 10;
Bournemouth 5
McDonald 44; Stanislas 58; Fraser 63; Kermorgant 67, 71;

HT: 1-1. Att: 5,875.

Tranmere 2
Power 70; Stockton 83;
Swansea 6
Dyer 34; Carroll 49; Barrow 58; Gomis 77, 90; Routledge 85;

HT: 0-1. Att: 10,007.

West Brom 7
Berahino 42, 46; Berahino 53, 90; Anichebe 45; Brunt 55; Morrison 79;
Gateshead 0

HT: 2-0. Att: 16,953.

Playing today
Arsenal vs Hull - 18.30
Aston Villa vs Blackpool - 16.00
Chelsea vs Watford - 17.00
Dover vs Crystal Palace - 14.00
Man. City vs Sheffield Wed. - 16.00
QPR vs Sheffield Utd - 14.00
Southampton vs Ipswich - 16.00
Stoke vs Wrexham - 16.00
Sunderland vs Leeds - 14.00
Yeovil vs Man. United - 16.30

Tomorrow
Wimbledon vs Liverpool - 20.55
Burnley vs Tottenham - 20.45

Tuesday
Everton vs West Ham - 20.45

Next fixtures

Saturday: Premier League 13.45 Sunderland vs Liverpool. 16.00 Burnley vs QPR; Chelsea vs Newcastle; Everton vs Man. City; Leicester City vs Aston Villa; Swansea vs West Ham; West Bromwich Albion vs Hull City. 18.30 Crystal Palace vs Tottenham Hotspur.
Sunday: Premier League 14.30 Arsenal vs Stoke City; 17.00 Man. United vs Southampton.

League One
Fleetwood 2 - Swindon 2
Port Vale 2 - Gillingham 1
Walsall 0 - Coventry 2

Standings: Swindon, Bristol City 48; Preston 45; MK Dons 44; Bradford 36; Sheff. United 33; Chesterfield, Port Vale 32; Rochdale, N. County, Peterborough, Fleetwood 31; Walsall, Oldham, Doncaster 30; Coventry 29; Barnsley, Scunthorpe 26; L. Orient, Gillingham 25; Crawley, Crewe 23; Colchester 21; Yeovil 20.

League Two
Burton 1 - Shrewsbury 0
Dagenham 1 - Bury 0
Exeter 1 - Accrington 2
Morecambe 0 - Stevenage 0
Newport 2 - Carlisle 1
Northampton 1 - Southend 1
Oxford 1 - Cheltenham 2
Wycombe 1 - Hartlepool 0
York 0 - Plymouth 0

Standings: Wycombe Wanderers 47; Burton Albion 46; Shrewsbury Town 44; Newport County 43; Luton 42; Southend 40; Plymouth Argyle 38; Bury, Exeter City 37; Stevenage 35; Morecambe 34; Wimbledon, Accrington Stanley 33; Cambridge 29; Portsmouth, Oxford United, Cheltenham Town 28; York City, Mansfield Town 27; Northampton, Dagenham 25; Carlisle 24; Tranmere 22; Hartlepool 14.