Northern League Division 1

29 April, 2009

 

Bishop Auckland 2 : Tow Law Town 2

 

 

Team: Peter Jeffries, Chris Killeen, Arjun Purewal, Martin Langley, Paul Moss, Joe Fairish, Adam Strong, Joe Grant, Amar Purewal (Steven West 82mins), Luke Gilbert, Darren Richardson

 

Final game of the season and Bishops took to the field on a beautiful April evening with an extremely young side packed with teenagers.  Martin Langley, Joe Fairish, Adam Strong and Darren Richardson came in from Saturday’s side, with Steven West the only available substitute.

 

Another bad start when on eight minutes Mark Eccles cut in from the right and shot low past the bandaged and bruised Peter Jeffries for 1-0.

 

Bishops pressed after that and Joe Grant had a great chance to equalise when fed in over the Town defence, but he delayed his shot too long and Simon Bishop smothered it.  Amar Purewal missed another great chance minutes later, with again Bishops making the save.

 

After pressing for much fo the half, Bishops grabbed the equaliser on 41 minutes.  A Luke Gilbert free kick from just over the half way line was flicked up by Fairish’s head to Richardson who volleyed in from close range.

 

Richardson missed a great chance to give Bishops the lead a minute later when Joe Grant set up the midfielder 15 yards from goal but he sliced his shot well wide.

 

As half time approached, Tow Law had a couple of good chances with the first coming from a corner which Fairish cleared off the line at the left hand post.

 

However, in injury time Tow Law took the lead again when Killeen lost the ball to Eccles who fired in from 20 yards across Jeffries and into the far corner of the net.

 

A great chance for Bishops just after the interval when Amar Purewal charged through the middle, but again Bishops blocked the shot.  Follow up efforts from Richardson and Strong were both blocked and the ball was knocked out for a corner.  From the corner Moss headed just wide.

 

Another good chance for Bishops soon after when Amar dribbled into the box but his low shot was deflected into the side netting.

 

A corner for Bishops on 64 minutes and Moss’s header beyond the far post was handled out for a corner by a Town defender.

 

Bishops continued to press and Richardson had another chance on 77 minutes with a ball over the top but again Bishops got out to block from close range.

 

Ten minutes to go and Amar Purewal chased the ball down the left wing.  The ball went out and the flag had already been raised and the whistle blown when Scott Nicholson lunged through the back of the Bishops defender.  A yellow card was hardly punishment for the tackle which ended Amar’s game.

 

Steven West came on to replace Amar Purewal up front and on 88 minutes Gilbert put in a free kick which caused chaos in the Town box.  West created the space for Richardson to rush in and blast the ball home from six yards to make it 2-2.

 

An entertaining finale to the season, and the point lifted Bishops above South Shields for an unlikely 18th place.

 

At the final whistle Bishops players took the generous applause from the supporters who celebrated their first division safety which had looked impossible just weeks ago.

 

 

 

 

Fixtures and Results