Northern League Division 1

15 April, 2009

 

Bishop Auckland 2 : Whitley Bay 6

 

 

Team: Peter Jeffries, Arjun Purewal (Adam Strong HT), Kyle Anderson (Chris Killeen HT), Martin Langley, Neil Wilkinson, Joe Grant, Amar Purewal (Luke Gilbert 78mins), Stephen Salvin, Gavin Barton, Gavin Parkin, Darren Richardson

 

As if playing the FA Vase finalists wasn’t tough enough, Bishops giftwrapped a couple of goals in the first ten minutes, and from then on it was damage limitation.

 

Bishops started with Gavin Barton back, and Neil Wilkinson available on a foggy and cold April evening.

 

Eight minutes and it was 1-0.  From a punt over the top, Neil Wilkinson stretched to head the ball half way back to Jeffries.  Chow pounced and tapped in.

 

Ten minutes and 2-0.  This time another hoof over the defence into no mans land.  The Bay forward reacted first and rounded Jeffries for a simple tap-in.  Two goals for Chow.

 

When the third goal came on 20 minutes it really was all over.  A cross from wide on the right was blasted in from close range by Chow for his hat-trick.

 

Bishops first chance came on 35 minutes when Barton flicked the ball to Parkin who found Richardson ten yards out but his fierce shot dipped just over the bar.

 

Approaching time and Bishops were once again denied a penalty with the ball handled away from Amar Purewal and then cleared up field.  From the pass out, the ball was lumped up the left wing.  Langley committed to get the ball but didn’t get there soon enough and Bay raced down on goal to make it 4-0, Bell the scorer.

 

Strong and Killeen replaced Arjun Purewal and Anderson at half time.  However, Strong was clattered with a robust challenge early in the half and took several minutes to get back into the game. 

 

On 62 minutes another decent chance for Bishops as Salvin blasted in a shot from the edge of the box which ‘keeper McLean spilled.  Amar Purewal got to the rebound but his shot from a tight angle went wide.

 

Bishops got a bit of a lifeline on 64 minutes when they finally got a penalty !  After so many penalty shouts at crucial points in recent games, it seemed fairly typical to get one that didn’t really matter.  So when a Bay player jumped into the air with both arms outstretched to block the ball, there was still some surprise when the referee pointed to the spot.  Amar Purewal took the kick, and scored Bishops first penalty of the season.

 

A minute later and and the four goal advantage was restored when Bell’s long range shot took two deflections on its way to the top corner of Bishops net.

 

Luke Gilbert replaced Amar Purewal on 78 minutes.

 

Barton headed a Richardson cross inches  wide on 79 minutes. 

 

Another great penalty shout on 82 minutes, but presumably Bishops had had their one for the evening.  The ball from a shot from 18 yards hit both hands of a Bay defender, but the referee thought that the corner was sufficient reward.

 

The game continued to flow from end to end and on 83 minutes McLean made another big error totally missing a punch and the ball fell behind him but Coulson lifted it clear.

 

Another scramble in the Bay area on 85 minutes and the ball dropped to Parkin who flashed a shot in off the underside of the bar to make it 2-5.

 

However, on the 90th minutes Killeen’s weak clearance was played back over the stranded defender’s head and crossed for another close range finish from Bell.

 

Results elsewhere this week went well, so Bishops go into the weekend still in 19th.

 

 

Fixtures and Results