Northern League Division 1

18 August, 2009

 

Bishop Auckland 2 : Ashington 4

 

 

Team: Liam Clough, Carl Robinson, Arjun Purewal, Christopher Killeen, Steven West (Adam Strong 65mins), Joe Grant, Mark Henson, Stephen Salvin, Wayne Gredziak, Amar Purewal (Darren Richardson 58mins), Gavin Parkin (Daniel Lennon 65mins)

 

Weather – warm autumn evening

 

Bishop Auckland played their first home Northern League fixture of the new season. Bishop’s manager Colin Myers whom was named as one of the substitutes was without the suspended central defender Paul Moss and goalkeeper Peter Jeffries, along with defenders Neil Wilkinson and Chris Lawson whom were unavailable due to work commitments. Left back Liam Clough took the goalkeepers position and Carl Robinson made his debut at right back, veteran player/coach Steven West made his first appearance of the season in his accustomed role of central defender pairing up with Christopher Killeen and Arjun Purewal made up the defensive make shift quartet at left back.

 

Amar Purewal and Wayne Gredziak both had chances in the opening minutes though the best chance fell to captain Stephen Salvin who headed a Gavin Parkin 4th minute looping left wing corner just over the bar from the edge of the 6 yard box. Three minutes later Mark Henson split the visiting defence with a 30 yard high ball that was chased by Gredziak with the oncoming keeper managing to block Gredziak’s header and the Colliers defence cleared the danger.

 

Though it was Ashington whom took the lead in the 9th minute, Bishop gave away a free kick on the edge of the right hand side of the penalty area, the Blues defence was slow to react to a Mark O’dea quick free kick that was floated over to the left and found the unmarked David Colvin who emphatically drove the ball into the far top corner of the goal giving Clough no chance at all. Colvin again threatened four minutes later when he worked his way from the half way line beating three Bishop players before unleashing a 20 yard shot that narrowly went over the bar.

 

Bishop equalised in the 16th minute in a well thought out move, Henson with a long throw picked out the unmarked West in the centre of the pitch, 30 yards from goal, West advanced forward and looped a diagonal pass of sheer quality that took the visiting defence by surprise which allowed the quick thinking Gredziak to downward head the ball beating the slow advancing keeper inside the 6 yard box and this was Gredziak’s his third league goal in as many games.

 

Ashington began to dominate the play with their 4-2-4 formation, midfielder Andrew Johnson making probing runs and O’dea playing the role of anchor man in front of his back four which proved very effective especially during the 1st half. Pressure mounted with sweeping Collier attacks, the experienced Robbie Cockburn and Lee Scott combined to set up Gareth Bainbridge whose flying header was pushed round the post by Clough. Clough again in action on the half hour mark when made a triple save from Scott and parried two shots from Johnson. Seconds later Colvin and Cockburn combined to make space and set up Lee Scott whose shot was adjudged to have crossed the line by the assistant referee to the dis-belief of the Bishop players and supporters.

 

Worse was to follow in the 37th minute, again the Bishops defence gave away another free kick just outside the penalty area, Bainbridge floated his direct free kick over the defensive Bishop’s wall and made it 3-1 to the Colliers. In a rare Bishop’s attack Henson made ground from the half way line and played a one two with Gredziak to see his powerful shot fly just over the bar. Henson’s passing was prominent throughout the game as he continually looked to create openings for the Bishop forwards.

 

Half Time – Bishop Auckland 1 Ashington 3

 

Second half kicked off with Cockburn and Colvin swapping wings for the visitors, though it was the Bishops whom started the brighter though lost Amar Purewal in the 58th minute when it appears he went over on his ankle, Darren Richardson replaced him making his first appearance of the season. Ashington went 4-1 up on the hour mark, playmaker Johnson’s deep right wing cross found Colvin whose powerful downward header was deflected off the unlucky Robinson at close range and the despairing Clough could not stop the ball going over the line.

 

A turning point in the game came two minutes later when Henson on the left, again found Gredziak who turned and was brought to the ground just inside the penalty box, to the absolute dis-belief of Gredziak, his team mates and the home supporters, the referee Mr. Liddle booked him for diving and the remainder of the game was littered with inconsistent decisions from the official for both teams. It was a curious decision to book Gredziak as the referee was 20 yards away from the alleged dive and his view was obscured by two Ashington defenders, it would be fair to say the referee gave the Bishop’s centre forward little protection and this in front of a referee’s assessor. 

 

On 65 minutes, manager Colin Myers made a double substitution, on came Daniel Lennon for Gavin Parkin, Adam Strong came on and went on the left wing, with Darren Richardson reverting to left back, Arjun Purewal to sweeper and Steven West was the other substitution. Bishops showed real character and gritted their teeth in a determined assault on the Colliers goal and nearly pulled a goal back straight away when Henson’s 35 yard shot was deflected wide.

 

Though on 71 minutes the Bishop supporters feared the worst when the referee spoke to Gredziak at length whom appeared aggrieved when a free kick was given against him. A minute later Darren Richardson made what appeared a well timed tackle on Cockburn though the referee gave a free kick near the corner flag for which Bainbridge saw his header cleared by the home defence.

 

Bishop were rewarded with their efforts in the 75th minute, another Henson throw in from the left was passed across the field from Strong to Salvin who in turn found the advancing Robinson on the right, his cross into the penalty area was sliced by left back Walmsley and this fell to the feet of the grateful Daniel Lennon whom slotted home from the edge of the 6 yard box, to celebrate his first goal for the Bishops. Ten minutes later more Bishop pressure, Salvin linked up with Henson whom found Robinson on the right though he was brought to the ground by Walmsley and was booked. Henson floated in the resultant free kick and found Salvin whose header just flashed wide of the far post.

 

It was always going to be a difficult game with the loss of suspended and unavailable players though the Bishops never gave up and finished the game the stronger, my man of the match Liam Clough.

 

Ashington Team:

 

Ashington

 

  1.         Karl Dryden
  2.         Alex Housley
  3.         Mark Walmsley – booked 83 minutes
  4.         Andrew Johnson
  5.         Scott Blandford
  6.         Iain Nichalls – captain
  7.         Robert Cockburn
  8.         Mark O’dea
  9.         Gareth Bainbridge – replaced by 12 Stephen Hutchinson
  10. Lee Scott – replaced by 13 Glen Taylor 76 minutes
  11. David Colvin – booked 90 minutes   

 

Substitutions not used – 14 Scott Smith / 15 Steven Mundy / 16 Gareth Rees

 

Referee – Mr. G Liddle

 

Assistant Referees – Mr. A Duffy / Mr A March

 

 

 

Fixtures and Results