Northern Premier League Division 1
Bishop Auckland 0 : Woodley Sports 3
29 April, 2006
Team: Tony Davison, Paul Campbell, Aaron Fletcher, David Spence, Graham Low, Dan Newby, Stephen Winspear, Richie Storr, Martin Barwick, David Wells, Dale Mendum
Bishops sixth match in ten days was just too much, and the 18 season tenure in the UniBond League ended in a whimper. Bishops preparations were thrown into confusion when minutes before kick-off, Paul Griffith was unable to take his place in the team, and David Spence was drafted in from the bench to start.
Had the referee applied the laws of the game, Bishops would have had the upper hand from the seventh minute when the Woodley 'keeper raced from his box, and saved Barwick's goal-bound lob yards outside his area. But the official thought that a shot heading directly towards goal with no defender in sight was not a clear goal-scoring opportunity and waved only the yellow card.
It was all downhill from there. Campbell was penalised for an innocuous offence on 32 minutes and the resulting free-kick was headed home from close range.
Bishops makeshift defence, including forwards Storr and Campbell, were static on 42 minutes when a quick free kick was tapped around them and in. Wells had a one on one saved a minute later.
Bishops were three down on 53 minutes with a bizarre goal. A long range shot was left by Davison, and to the amazement of everyone the ball (apparently) went in. The ground was quiet, and it was several second later before anyone realised a goal had been scored.
And that was it - the end. An anticlimax of epic proportions.