Northern League Division One
8 October 2008
Consett 0 : Bishop Auckland
2
Team: Peter
Jeffries, Gus Di Lella (Scott Richards 55mins), Gary Ankers, Joe Fairish, Arjun
Purewal, Gary Anderson, Lewis Hardman, Dale Dunn, Gavin Parkin, Amar Purewal (Gavin Barton 74mins), Liam
O’Mahoney (Adam Strong 90mins)
Expectations were
low as Bishops travelled to Consett for what has proved to be a difficult venue
since Bishops return to the Northern League.
Injuries picked up in Saturday’s defeat at Dunston Federation kept Neil
Wilkinson and Lee Foster out. Chris Porter, Kevin Dixon and Lee Ellison were
all unavailable through work commitments, and Scott Richards and Gavin Barton
arrived too late for inclusion in the starting line up.
Peter Jeffries and
Dale Dunn came in for their league debuts, and Gus Di Lella and Gary Ankers
came in for rare starts.
Consett didn’t look
the fluent outfit they have in recent encounters as the game started, but they
did have a chance on 15 minutes when an unmarked header went over the Bishops
bar.
Peter Jeffries saw
his first real action on 30 minutes when he flapped a dipping cross out for a
corner. The ‘keeper then pushed the
resulting corner out for another corner before the danger was cleared at the
third attempt.
Bishops should have
lead on 42 minutes. Dale Dunn pushed the
ball through to the rampaging O’Mahoney who turned his defender, leaving him
sprawling on the turf. But with an easy
chance to fire the ball home from near the penalty spot, his weak shot went
straight a the ‘keeper.
Consett missed a
couple of chances in the opening exchanges of the second half. A shot into the side netting on 48 minutes,
and a close range Moffatt opportunity on 53 minutes both failed to deliver.
Fairish chipped a
ball over the static home defence on 57 minutes and Amar Purewal ran on to the
ball but again fired a weak shot straight at the ‘keeper’s body. However, three minutes later Amar was played
in again and on this occasion took his time to fire the ball into the top
corner to make it 1-0.
Consett gave
Bishops another advantage on 64 minutes when after tussling with substitute
Scott Richards, and winning a free-kick, Ormston decided to kick Richards hard
across the shins. No real doubt that this was a red card offence, and the
referee duly dispatched him to the dressing room.
Bishops kept
attacking, as Consett pushed forward for an equaliser, leaving space
everywhere.
Parkin picked up a
ball at the far post on 75 minutes after a defensive mix up. His low shot was cleared for a corner by what
looked suspiciously like a defender’s arm.
A minute later,
Consett survived another hand ball offence when a corner was cleared to Fairish
whose goalbound shot was palmed by a defender onto the face of the bar.
On 83 minutes
O’Maloney pushed the ball in to Barton who found Parkin who blazed a shot which
cannoned off the foot of the post and back across goal, but safe.
A minute later
O’Maloney again caused problems, finding Richards who teed the ball up for
Barton to blaze inches wide with a fierce volley.
On 85 minutes,
Bishops squandered their third chance in as many minutes when Barton failed to
control a ball across the box and was unable to exploit the space offered to
him by an erratic home defence.
Bishops finally
notched a second on 88 minutes when Barton was again in space and clear, and
this time he made no mistake in beating the advancing ‘keeper.
Bishops were
rampant. Consett tetchy. On 90 minutes Hardman beat his man on the
half way line, and raced onwards before finding Barton who clashed the shot
into the post. The rebound flew back
onto the big striker but cleared the bar by inches.
There was still
time for Barton to miss a 1 on 1 in the 95th minute when his shot
hit the side netting with the ‘keeper beaten.
Three very valuable
points which brought Bishops closer to the pack at the foot of the table.