A SWING OF THE BOOT

Bishop Auckland 1 Seaham Red Star 0 – Durham Challenge Cup first round

One swing of the boot was enough to decide the match; a match where clear-cut, quality scoring chances were as rare as hen’s teeth.

And it was a struggle for both teams to play any fluent, attacking football.  The notebook didn’t have many notes, which is never a good sign.

Bishop Auckland had the better of the first half, although Red Star had the first shot on target – Jamie Clark hitting a fierce free kick that Bishops keeper Nick Liversedge could only half punch away.

Before they came up with the winner, Bishop Auckland No. 9 Wayne Whitfield set Lewis Suddick up, with the No. 11 having a better sight of goal; the winger’s shot well saved by Red Star keeper Andrew Jennison.

The match was liberally peppered by fouls and free kicks, some due to an over-fussy referee.

The decisive moment came in the 37^th minute at a Bishop Auckland corner that landed at the feet of Matthew Waters who turned and hit the ball first time through a gaggle of legs.

The second half saw a slight reversal of fortunes, with Red Star looking much more positive and pushing forward, waking from their lethargy of the first half, but a series of crosses failed to produce a decisive opening of their own.  They came closest to an equaliser just before the hour mark with Liversedge blocking a James Robinson shot after the No. 7 played a neat one-two with Louis Anderson.

Bishop Auckland were reduced to 10 men with a couple of minutes to go when Whitfield was sent off for a second bookable offence.

A result-over-performance performance by Bishops and not a match to get the blood coursing through the veins.

Mike Snowdon