RCA have spent big recently, but were put to the sword by Tony Robinson's young side, who edged a seven-goal thriller 4-3.

The victory was made all the sweeter after Hebburn had lost the services of key trio Colin Nesbitt, Paul Donaghy and Chris Neil before the game.

And the experienced defenders looked like being a big miss when RCA took the lead inside 45 secons through Gary Shields, who converted after being left unmarked four yards out.

RCA threatened to run riot in the opeing half-hour, but Hebburn dug deep and grabbed an equaliser on 32 minutes as Nick Pain found Steven Rutherford with a diagonal ball, and he converted.

And Hebburn went in at the interval ahead, when Finbar Lynch's strong run eventually ended with Michael Armstrong volleying home.

After the break, the game could have gone either way, but on 70 minutes a bullet header from Daniel Gray gave Hebburn some breathing space, though Dean Goodwin immediately reduced the arrears.

Shaun Carroll and Armstrong then proceeded to miss chances for Hebburn, but with two minutes remaining Carroll made amends with a stunning curled shot into the top corner.

Andy Jennings quickly made it 4-3, but despite the referee somehow finding nine minutes of injury time, Hebburn hung on for the win.