Northern League Division 1
28 November, 2009
Morpeth – Kyle Hayes / Paul Jackson / Paul Haxon / Daniel Kirkup (booked 20 mins, sent off 61 mins) / Steve Warwick / Carl Thorpe (Ian Herron 44 mins) / Barrie Smith (booked 37 mins) / Mark Grant / Sean Sweeney / Mark Walton (booked 20 mins) / Andrew Middleton
Subs not used – Paul Newton-Eddy / Mark Gaffney / Peter Brayson / Jamie McClen
Bishop Auckland – Peter Jeffries / Paul Moss (booked 72 mins) / Jake Richardson / Wayne Clarke / Arjun Purewal / Joe Grant (booked 69 mins) / Adam Strong / Stephen Salvin / Wayne Gradziak (Adam Emson 66 mins) / Harry Drummond / Tyson Masters
Subs not used – Jordan Tomlinson / Ryan Graham / Jonathan Stokell / Steven West
The Bishops travelled to Bedlington to play
The Bishops kicked off on a dry sunny afternoon and went in front after only two minutes. Stephen Salvin received an Adam Strong pass on the edge of the box, he held off his marker and played a short pass to Wayne Gredziak whom tried to turn his marker though was clumsily brought to the ground by Morpeth captain Daniel Kirkup and he was fortunate not to be booked. Tyson Masters scored from the resultant penalty.
The Bishops pressed forward and doubled their lead in the 13th minute, the passage of play started after Masters was felled by right back Paul Jackson on the half way line with the referee only having a word with the full back. Wayne Clarke’s free kick from the left was flicked on by Salvin to Gredziak whom in turn unselfishly found the advancing Joe Grant on the right and his shot from just inside the box was deflected for a corner.
Harry Drummond’s corner was half cleared with Salvin picking up the loose ball on the right hand side touch line and his pin point accurate pass found Drummond whose cross was superbly volleyed home by central defender Arjun Purwal from 10 yards out.
Morpeth began to find their way in the match with winger Barrie Smith and forward Mark Walton causing the Bishops defence problems. In the 16th minute keeper Peter Jeffries made an outstanding close range double save from Walton and Sean Sweeney when both should have scored.
Four minutes later both Kirkup and Walton were booked for dissent when the game began to get really physical particularly in the midfield with Bishops captain Salvin dominant in bossing the middle of the park as the Bishops 4-5-1 formation held off the Morpeth challenge.
The Two Blues should have increased their lead in the 27th minute, Salvin linked up with Drummond on the right whose weighted cross somehow evaded Masters at the far post as he completely missed heading the ball with the young goal keeper stranded.
Eleven minutes later, and the Bishops missed another glorious chance as Arjun Purewal blazed over from 10 yards after a well worked move with Salvin dummying Drummond’s excellent quick thinking free kick from the right across the box.
In the 39th minute another tussle between Kirkup and Gredziak resulted in the referee awarding the Bishops a free kick from 25 yards out which Drummond floated agonizingly wide.
Half Time –
Morpeth started the second half the better creating a few half chances and the pitch was cutting up especially in the middle though the half hinged on a 61st minute sending off.
Gredziak received a Salvin pass just inside the Morpeth half, though Kirkup crudely swung his feet to bring down Gredziak as he made no attempt to win the ball and the referee had no hesitation in sending off the Morpeth captain who simply found it difficult all game to keep Gredziak at bay.
After receiving lengthy treatment on his right calf, Gredziak signalled he couldn’t continue though changed his mind and returned to the game with Adam Emson ready to replace him.
Gredziak then nearly scored in the 65th minute, after receiving an Adam Strong pass he advanced into the Morpeth area to unleash a powerful 15 yard shot that bounced out of play off the corner of the bar and right hand post. Though at this point Gradziak realised he couldn’t continue any longer and was replaced by Adam Emson.
Both Joe Grant and Paul Moss were harshly booked in separate incidents after protesting to have been adjudged to have handled the ball when it was clear both had got in the way of close range Morpeth play.
In the 70th minute, a superb Ian Herron free kick was intercepted by Arjun Purewal whom headed the ball out for a corner with Walton tantalizingly close by. Seven minutes later the Bishops had Jeffries to thank as he finger tipped over the bar a powerful Walton 25 yard free kick.
The Bishops sealed the game by scoring three times in the last four minutes with some brilliant breath taking play, the influential Drummond on the right picked up a loose ball from 30 yards out and immediately brought Emson into play whom ran at the home defence to lay off a square ball to the advancing unmarked Masters whom made no mistake driving the ball home.
Seconds later in an identical move for the third goal, Salvin linked up with Masters who played in a defence splitting ball to Emson whom held his nerve to advance forward and slot home the fourth goal.
In the 89th minute Drummond’s 20 yard pass found Emson on the edge of the box who skipped round the full back at great speed to once again advance and slot home his second and Bishop’s fifth goal of the game.
Into injury time and Morpeth created two fine chances that both Smith and Walton somehow failed to hit the target.
This was an excellent Bishops performance as they controlled the game throughout, Stephen Salvin’s first half performance was incredible as he showed his determination and commitment to offset the physical Morpeth offensive, central defender Wayne Clarke gave his best Bishop performance since joining the club on loan and Adam Emson’s dynamic play in the latter stages ripped Morpeth to pieces and just hope Wayne Gradziak is fit to play next week at home to Esh Winning.
Today’s game marks the half way point in Bishops season with two thirds of the remaining fixtures at home this should push the Bishops into a mid-table position.
Full Time –
Tyson Masters, 2 mins (pen) & 86 mins
Arjun Purewal 13 mins,
Adam Emson 87 mins & 89 mins