Northern League Division 1
14 November 2007
Bishop Auckland 0 :
Team: Chris Porter,
Liam Bramley, Dominic Gamble, James Crossman, Paul Crager, Jason Newall, Joe
Fairish, Kevin Dixon (Neil Maddison 16mins), Gavin Parkin, Amar Purewal (Robbie
Bird 81mins), Darren Richardson (Andrew Gilbert 57mins)
A carbon copy of the previous Wednesday’s match when Bishops somehow contrived
to lose to very moderate opposition at Dean Street. Team selection was hampered by the
unavailability of Coghlan and Clarkson.
Kevin Dixon returned after suspension, and James Crossman made his first
start since his sending off in October.
Billingham had a chance ruled out for offside when the ball
was knocked in by a man standing yards behind Porter near the goalline on ten
minutes. On 16 minutes it was all change
as
The first half was devoid of chances, but Bishops should
have had the lead when on 35 minutes Fairish’s goalbound shot was beaten away
by a Town defender’s outstretched arms, but the referee strangely ignored the
offence.
The second half started with a break by Town, but Porter
dived at the forward’s feet to push the ball out. However as the ball was pumped back into the
area a second penalty shout brought the visitors reward, and Huggins fired in
the spot kick.
Saturday’s hero, Richardson, almost brought the scores level
on 53 minutes when his low shot was well saved by the reliable Collier in the
Town nets.
Bishops were finally gained some advantage when Harbron was
shown a red card for his third nasty tackle of the night. The only surprise was the offence which saw
him receive his marching orders was deemed worth of only a second yellow.
Porter made a good save diving to his left on 71 minutes,
but it was all one way traffic in the final twenty minutes.
The best chances came in the final ten minutes when Parkin
switched back into the middle. On 83
minutes Gamble set up Fairish who slotted a pass to Parkin to spin and shoot,
but his hit from 15 yards flew agonisingly wide. Crager had another chance with a header from
a corner in the dying seconds, but the ball went straight into the ‘keeper’s
hands.
Another disappointing night, with Bishops sliding another
couple of places down the league and with three away games to come, points are
now desparately needed.