FA Cup Preliminary Round
Replay
3 September 2008
Consett 4
: Bishop Auckland 1
Team: David
Leighton, Lee Foster, Darren Richardson, Gustavo DiLella, Gary Anderson, Arjun
Purewal, Adam Strong (Neil Wilkinson 50mins), Scott Richards, Gavin Barton,
Gavin Parkin, Keith Hutchinson (Amar Purewal 50mins)
Bishops FA Cup dreams
ended at Consett after another spirited second half performance. Bishops were already up against it playing
one of the best footballing sides in the league, but had to make do without their
regular keeper, three of the back four, and the entire midfield. Joe Fairish joined Gary Ankers on the
suspended list, with Paul Moss still suffering from Sunday’s injury. Chris Porter, Kevin Dixon, Lee Ellison and John
Pilkington were all unavailable, and Neil Wilkinson made it to the ground some
time after kick off.
And then the match started ! The now
traditional slow start saw the Two Blues two down in ten minutes. A handball award against Purewal on 4 minutes
allowed Moffatt to open the scoring from the spot.
On eight minutes
Leighton made a good save with his foot after Foster was beaten for pace.
Two minutes later
Leighton left his line late, allowing Johnson chase a speculative punt and
dribble round before passing into an unguarded net.
At this stage,
Bishops had made no impact on the game whatsoever, but as they rode their luck
at the back, they finally started to get into the game. Adam Strong, making his first start, showed
some good skills down the right, and confidence started to rise.
Consett should have
scored on 20 minutes but a shot hit another home player and bounced to safety.
Another
save from Leighton just after the half hour, again with his foot, after Foster
again found problems down the left. This was tough.
Bishops missed a
couple of half chances before half time, but in injury time the ball fell to
Moffatt in the box who fired it home for 3-0.
The second half started
to follow the pattern of the original tie.
Hutchinson and Strong were replaced by Amar Purewal and Neil Wilkinson. Consett again left huge gaps at the back, and
Bishops exploited them.
63 minutes, and
Gavin Barton opened his account for the club, stabbing a shot in from 10
yards. Game on.
A minute later and
it should have been 3-2. A long range
speculative lob shot saw Consett’s ‘keeper clash into the post as he collected
the ball. He spilled the spheroid, but
Barton shot over from a tight angle.
On 67 minutes Amar
Purewal charged down the right and with Richards and Parkin unmarked at the far
post, he failed to lift his cross high enough, and the ball was punched clear.
Time ticked on, but
this time the goals just wouldn’t come.
On 86 minutes Arjun Purewal headed over from close range. This wasn’t to be our night.
As Bishops pressed,
Johnson added a flattering fourth in injury time, and then it was all over.