BISHOPS NUDGE AHEAD IN PROMOTION PLAY-OFF RACE
Bishop Auckland 2 Heaton Stannington 1 – Ebac Northern League Division One
Bishop Auckland turned a nervy first half display into a precious win as they vie with Ashington and Whitley Bay for the promotion play-off place*.
The visitors fully deserved to go into the half-time break 1-0 up. Their teamwork was better than Bishops’ and their front players regularly caused problems for the home team’s defence.
And their goal came early – in the 5th minute Jordan Lashley was brought down in the box and Leighton Hopper tucked the penalty away. Almost 20 minutes into the game they had their best phase of possession and play, especially down their left.
A quick break by Lashley, Hopper and Jay Hornsby almost opened up the Bishop Auckland defence, but after beating a defender, Hornsby pushed the ball too far and Bishops keeper Ryan Catterick got to it first. Then Lashley sent over a cross that was intercepted by a defender before it could reach Hopper who was lurking in front of goal. They had the upper hand mainly through winning 50-50 balls and tackles in midfield, while Bishops weren’t getting much change out of hitting high, long balls up to Louis Johnson.
In the last 15 minutes Bishops started to create some openings. A loose pass by a Stan defender allowed Callum Patton to intercept the ball, pass it to Marcus Giles whose shot was turned away for a corner by Heaton Stannington keeper Greg Purvis. From the corner, Dale Hopson hit a low shot that was cleared by a defender inside his own six yard area.
At the other end, the home team were lucky to get away with a handball by Catterick as he came out of his box to clear a long ball forward by the visitors. There were muted applause for the players as they left the pitch at halt-time.
Bishops stepped up a couple of gears from the off in the second half.
An attempted clearance by the Heaton Stan defence ricocheted off a Bishops player and came to Dean Thexton who nudged it into the net to level the scores in the 49th minute, giving them just the start they needed.
And six minutes later they had the lead. The ball was driven across the Heaton Stan goal by Johnson and rebounded into the net off defender Mark Turnbull. The visitors suffered a double whammy – Joe Shepherd being sin binned for protesting about the goal. Down to 10 men, Heaton Stan were hesitant about pushing too many men forward, allowing the home team to press forward, with Thexton hitting a shot wide right.
When Shepherd returned to the fray, it reverted to a much more even contest, the best chance for a fourth goal falling to Heaton Stannington with only a couple of minutes to go. A great ball was sent into the Bishops area, Hopper took a touch, managed to work the ball round a defender – giving himself a clear shot at goal only to send it over the bar, much to the relief of the home supporters.
It’s going to be a fascinating fortnight in the run-up to the end of the season for neutrals, and nerve wracking for the fans involved.
(*Although not certain, Aycliffe look well set to win the title, but, as we all know, a lot can happen in a very short time in football. There was also an Aycliffe contingent among the crowd, taking a close, vested interest in proceedings.)
Mike Snowdon
