Northern League Division 1

27 February 2008

Shildon 0 : Bishop Auckland 2

Team: Peter Keen, Lee Foster, Dominic Gamble, Luke Ball, Paul Moss (Chris Gilligan 87mins), Paul Crager, Joe Fairish, Lee Ellison, Gavin Parkin, Carl Chillingsworth, Darren Richardson

Bishops made it two derby wins in a week. Brian Honour brought Darren Richardson into the starting lineup for the match at Dean Street in place of the injured Andrew Harrison and the young midfielder didn’t let the side down.

The match exploded into life on seven minutes when Bishops had a goalbound header blocked on the line when it was caught between the knees of a fortunate defender and after a moment of stunned silence was hacked clear. Three touches later and the ball was at the other end and when Crager sliced a clearance Emson ran through but hit the one on one chance wide.

Bishops took the lead on ten minutes when Parkin clipped the ball over the top for Chillingsworth to round the advancing Spence. The forward lost his footing initially but calmly regained his balance before slotting home into the unguarded net.

The first half continued with Shildon dominating possession without creating any clear chances. Bishops almost added a second on 40 minutes when Fairish found Richardson but his initial shot was blocked and the rebound fired wide.

The second half started in similar fashion, but the game was stretched as Shildon pushed on, and Bishops looked to counter. Richardson had another chance on 56 minutes when he fired in a good low shot from wide on the left. Spence saved with his feet and Richardson’s follow up cross shot was cleared.

Chillingsworth headed into the side netting from a Crager free kick on 58 minutes as the second goal looked increasingly like being crucial.

Ex-Bishop Dale Mendum swung a low cross across the face of Bishops goal on 59 minutes, but there was nobody in place to add the final touch.

The crucial strike came on 70 minutes when Gamble’s corner was flicked into the air by Chillingsworth and fell to Richardson who lashed the ball into the roof of the net to make it 2-0.

Joe Fairish was involved in a clash with Shildon’s No.11 soon after after the Bishops midfielder had been cut down seconds after feeding Parkin with a good pass. The two squared up, and ended with the Shildon player tackling Joe with his head, but escaped with only a yellow card.

Keen pulled off a great save on 83 minutes with a good push past the left hand post from a bobbling shot, and Fairish cleared from close to the Bishops line from a chance from the resulting corner, but the away defence kept firm. Injured captain Moss was replaced by Gilligan on 87 minutes.

Ellison almost added some icing with a 40 yard shot in injury time but Spence managed to make a fingertip save.

The win lifts Bishops out of the bottom three, with only two days to go to the third derby of the week.

Fixtures and Results