Northern League Division 1
12 October 2007
Bishop Auckland 0 :
Ashington 1
Team: Chris Porter,
James Crossman, Dominic Gamble, Kevin Dixon, Paul Crager, Arjun Purewal, Ben
Jackson (Robbie Clarkson 71 mins), Joe Fairish, Dane Wilson (Dale Mendum 58
mins), Gavin Parkin, Bryan Stewart
For the second consecutive home
game, Bishops threw away the chance of some easy points with an early red
card. Manager
The first real incident of the
game on 19 minutes effectively settled the result. Purewal allowed himself to be dispossesed in
a dangerous position at the back forcing James Crossman into a last ditch
attempt to salvage the situation but his tackle failed to connect with the
ball, sending the Ashington forward sprawling and giving the referee little
option but to brandish the red card.
Dane Wilson had a chance to give
Bishops the lead when he chased down a long ball but his header from the edge
of the area went straight into the ‘keeper’s arms on 28 minutes.
Porter made his only save of
significance in the match on 39 minutes when he dived full length to block a
fierce shot.
Bishops created a great chance on
42 minutes when Stewart fed Jackson who charged down the middle before
returning the ball to Stewart who fired just wide of the near post.
A slow start to the second half
saw Robbie Cockburn give Ashington the lead on 49 minutes after a scramble in
the area.
With nothing to lose, and with
Ashington clearly lacking the ability to threaten further, even with the extra
man, Bishops attacked more and more as the game drew to a close.
Arjun Purewal outjumpted the
opposition to make a good connection with a free kick, but his header skimmed
the top of the bar on 76 minutes.
On 80 minutes Fairish chipped a
ball over the top to Parkin who just failed to bring the ball under control
with only the ‘keeper to beat. A minute
later Parkin found some space on the edge of the area and clipped what looked
to be a perfect shot towards the top right hand corner, but Simpson flew high
to tip the ball just over the bar.
A corner on 89 minutes saw Bishops
ten remaining players crammed up the field, with ‘keeper Porter also in the
forward action challenging for a header, but to no avail.
On 90 minutes Bishops had a clear
penalty denied when the referee failed to spot an Ashington defender block a
shot with his arm before hacking it away, and in injury time Fairish stabbed a
shot just wide of the far post.
A brave finish, given the
circumstances, but the early dismissal again cost the Bishops a chance to
compete in a match they should have won.