Hannah Greenwood’s two goals helped Newcastle United hold off neighbours Middlesbrough to book their place in the fourth round of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup.
The Championship side dominated possession in the first half of the Tyne-Tees derby without a goal to show for it.
Greenwood turned home a rebound to give them a crucial opener on 42 minutes before the midfielder settled the tie with another opportunistic effort six minutes from time.
Elsewhere, Grace Ayre was the match-winner as Durham edged out fellow second-tier high-fliers Birmingham City.
The hosts started strongly as Lily Agg’s header was cleared off the line by Lily Crosthwaite before Ayre’s deflected shot wrong-footed goalkeeper Lucy Thomas.
Mollie Lambert hit the crossbar from range for Durham in the second half as the Wildcats held on to the win to continue their impressive season.
Bristol City put in arguably the performance of the round as they cruised to a 3-0 victory at Championship rivals Southampton.
Ella Powell opened the scoring for the visitors on the half-hour mark and Libby Bance made it two just three minutes later.
Emily Syme wrapped up the dominant display with 20 minutes to spare to put City’s name in the fourth-round draw.
Meanwhile, Una Lue scored twice for Cheltenham as they held off Norwich to win 2-1 after extra time.
Lue got the opener early in the second half, but Hope Strauss equalised from the spot to give Norwich hope of an upset.
However, Lue got her second of the match nine minutes into extra time to break Norwich’s hearts and end their FA Cup campaign.
Third-tier Rugby Borough also progressed to the fourth round thanks to a 3-0 win over fifth-tier Mancunian Unity.
Atlanta Brown gave Rugby a first-half lead before Kelis Barton and Yasmin Mosby got on the scoresheet late on to wrap up a comfortable victory.
Exeter City survived a scare against Worthing to win 2-1 after extra time, having been 1-0 down.
Sophie Humphrey gave fourth-tier Worthing a surprise lead in the second second half but Sophie Gillies equalised with 20 minutes left to take the match to extra time.
Portsmouth also put their disappointing league form behind them to knock out fifth-tier Luton Town with a 5-0 win.
Other Championship sides London City and Sunderland avoided shocks against lower-tier opposition, winning 4-0 against Gwalia United and Huddersfield respectively.
Finally, Chester-Le-Street Town’s fairytale run came to an end with a 2-1 loss at home to Stoke City, while fellow fifth-tier team Shrewsbury were thrashed 14-0 by Wolverhampton.
