Northern League Division 1
21 March, 2009
Bishop Auckland 1 : West Allotment Celtic 2
Team: Peter Jeffries, Martin Langley, Arjun Purewal, Joe Grant, Steven West,
Paul Moss, Amar Purewal, Stephen Salvin, Gavin Barton, Gavin Parkin, Craig
Thorn
Bishops took on high flying West Allotment Celtic on a sunny
Saturday hoping to lift themselves out of the bottom three but the revival ran
out of steam and Allotment picked up the three points with two second half
goals.
With only 11 players available, and one or two of them carrying
knocks, Colin Myers named himself as an emergency substitute along with
youngster Joel Robinson and the unfit Joe Fairish.
A worrying start with so limited resources on the bench as Paul
Moss was forced to leave the field with a head wound after clashing heads in
the opening minutes. After a few minutes
playing a man down Moss returned to the action.
West had a couple of early chances with free-kicks just outside
the area. The first on eight minutes
after a West foul brought out a fine flying save from Jeffries who pushed the
ball wide of the far post. A few
minutes later a free kick from a similar position was driven in, but again
Jeffries was equal to it.
Good football was proving difficult on a very hard and bobbly
pitch and both sides found it difficult to put good passing moves together.
Bishops took the lead on 28 minutes. Barton played a first time ball from the
centre to Amar Purewal on the right. With
two players in front of him he cut inside to beat one then curled a shot which
clipped the second defender’s foot and flew into the net at the far post. A great shot to make it 1-0.
After the breakthrough it was all Bishops until the break. On 35 minutes Amar Purewal crossed the ball
from the goalline, and keeper Dryden tipped it away. Craig Thorn put the ball back into the six
yard box but again it was cleared. The
ball was driven in again, and a West defender handled the ball. From the resulting free kick out wide on
Bishops left, Moss powered a header just over the bar.
On 40 minutes the ball was pinging around the box and eventually
came to Barton who looped a header which the ‘keeper plucked out of the air.
A minute later and a huge clearance from Jeffries landed with
Barton who again found Amar Purewal but his stab at goal went just wide of the
near post.
Some great play from Bishops as the half finished, but the break
definitely worked in the visitors favour.
Bishops defence looked shaky from the restart and
West Allotment equalised on 53 minutes. From a corner Jeffries was impeded getting to
the ball and only managed to punch to just outside the box. The ball was fired back in and cleared off the
line before a third shot from Liam Atkin found its way into the bottom corner.
Jeffries kept the scores level on 67 minutes with a good low
save after the ball was cut across the box.
The game became increasingly tetchy as the visitors bench
attempted to intimidate Bishops young defenders and the match officials.
With Bishops defence tiring, and being increasingly stretched, West
took the lead on 72 minutes with a goal from Andrew Johnson.
Bishops struggled to get into the second half but did have a
chance on 80 minutes when a deep cross from Amar Purewal saw Barton put ‘keeper
Dryden under pressure. The ‘keeper
pulled off a slapstick save which saw him fumble the ball up into the air. The ball then fell onto his head then looped
up and back down into his hands.
The game ended 2-1. A
spirited performance, but ultimately a lack of fresh legs on the bench made it
difficult to maintain the momentum they showed in the first half.
Bishops left the field to nurse their wounds, running the
gauntlet through some frankly embarrasing gloating and verbal abuse from the
visitors bench. A sour end to what has
been a great week for Bishop Auckland Football Club.