Northern League Division 1
21 November 2007
Consett 8 : Bishop Auckland 1
Team: Chris Porter,
Liam Bramley, Dominic Gamble, Michael Coghlan, Paul Crager, Jason Newall, Joe
Fairish, Kevin Dixon (Darren Richardson 53mins), Gavin Parkin, Carl
Chillingsworth, Gus DiLella
An unchanged starting team for a visit to a wet Consett which started brightly
and ended in humiliation. A highly
competitive first 40 minutes descended into a second half farce following the
sending off of Chris Porter a minutes before the interval to leave Bishops on
the receiving end of their heaviest defeat since February 1960.
Bishops created the first chance on five minutes when a through
ball sent Chillingsworth clear of the defence but he hit a weak side footed
shot straight at the ‘keeper.
Consett had a great chance on six minutes when a free header
went over the bar, and on 12 minutes a low cross also caused problems in
Bishops area, but the ball evaded all outstretched legs.
The Two Blues took the lead on 16 minutes when Kevin Dixon
sent a low pass from the halfway line to Fairish who cut back to beat his
marker and expertly chipped the custodian from 15 yards to record his first
goal in 54 appearances for the club.
The equaliser came on 21 minutes when Porter saved a long
range shot. The ball looked like it was
about to bounce over the line after the save, and Porter beat it out again,
only for the ball to be fired back past him by an onrushing attacker.
Honours were even for the next 15 minutes, but Consett then
started to take charge and hit the post on 38 minutes. A minute later Newall played a weak pass out
of defence straight to the opposition and two passes and a shot later the ball
was in the net to make it 2-1.
Another defensive mistake, this time a misplaced cross field
pass from Gamble saw Bishops in more danger on the stroke of half time. Porter dived at the attacker’s feet, taking
ball and man, and the referee upheld the letter of the law and sent off the ‘keeper. Newall took the gloves and dived the wrong
way for the penalty.
The centre half must have been regretting his decision to
take over between the posts throughout the second half as he failed to get near
Consett strikes on 51 and 52 minutes to make it 5-1.
A further speculative shot on 68 minutes left Newall
floundering. A shot a minute later
brought a decent save, but the rebound bounced out for another tap in to make
it 7-1.
Parkin almost pulled one back on 72 minutes with a good run
and shot which flew inches over the bar.
The final goal came on 83 minutes.
With five minutes to go Parkin produced another good run to
feed Chillingsworth whose shot from the edge of the area hit the post.