Northern League Division 1

20 December 2008

Whitley Bay 5 : Bishop Auckland 0

Team: Chris Porter, Martin Langley, Darren Richardson, Kevin Dixon, Ian Lowe (Steven West HT), Arjun Purewal, Scott Richards, Stephen Salvin, Gavin Barton, Gavin Parkin, Amar Purewal (Mark Robinson 58mins)

Four weeks waiting for a match, and then this !

Despite the long wait since the previous game, Bishops still had no fit full backs but Stephen Salvin was back in his familiar central midfield role to give Bishops a boost after signing from Newcastle Blue Star last week.

Whitley Bay were ahead on six minutes after some dismal defending left ex-Bishop Chris Moore in space goalside of the defence. His low cross was met by a totally unmarked Fawcett who knocked it home unchallenged.

Four minutes later and a Bay free kick into the Bishops box saw a header beat Porter but the ball hit the underside of the bar and was hacked to safety. Porter made a great save on 16 minutes when he dived right to palm a fierce shot round the post.

Bishops were in the game, and were playing some decent football, but the fragility at the back gave cause for concern every time the home side attacked.

On 19 minutes Salvin flicked on a Langley throw in and a Bay defender knocked the ball away from Barton with his arm. Parkin fired the rebound wide as other appealed unsuccessfully for a penalty.

Eight minutes later and Bishops belatedly had the penalty they deserved. A deep cross was headed back across goal but blocked by a defender’s flailing arms. Parkin placed the spot-kick wide of the post.

On 33 minutes Bishops had another great chance to level when a Amar Purewal played the ball down the left for Scott Richards who charged on before firing a low shot which Burke couldn’t hold. The ball flew back out but just past the advancing Amar Purewal. It was all downhill from then on.

Stand in left back Darren Richardson found himself on the wrong side of Chris Moore on 35 minutes. His cross was easily headed home by an unmarked Chow for 2-0.

Porter saved from a 1 on 1 on 41 minutes but two minutes later Bay were allowed to win consecutive headers in the Bishops area before Chow looped the third header over Porter.

On the stroke of half time Bishops had a corner which was cleared then humped down field for Chris Moore whose long ranged shot was deflected over Porter to make it 4-0.

Steven West replaced Ian Lowe on half time, and teenager Mark Robinson was on just before the hour for a disappointed Amar Purewal.

There wasn’t much action of note in a quiet second half. Richards put an excellent low ball across goal on 61 minutes but Bay dealt with it comfortably.

After another great save by Porter from a one on one, with the defence nowhere to be seen, kept the scores unchanged. However, on 68 minutes the ‘keeper was unable to deal with a high bouncing ball on the fringes of his area allowing another tap in for 5-0.

The rain started, and the game fizzled out. Not a great return to action, but four weeks without a game was never likely to result in a polished performance. And so it proved.

Fixtures and Results