ESH FINISH WITH A FLOURISH

Jarrow 0 Esh Winning 5 – Ebac Northern League Division Two:

It took Esh Winning No. 9 Joe Bates a mere 16 seconds to get on the hat-trick trail.  Mind you, he left it late to complete it – scoring his third with the last kick of the game in the 91st minute.

The visitors finished the season with a flourish.  There was only one consolation for Jarrow; their win on Saturday secured their Division Two status, providing massive relief that they have avoided relegation.

We hardly had time to get our stop watches going before Bates had a shot from an acute angle that found the net, providing what must be the quickest league goal of the season.  Esh then employed a full court press, forcing Jarrow to play a lot of balls sideways and backwards.

Esh made it 2-0 in the 18th minute, Cobi Jones sending over a corner that hit the far post and crossed the line after ricocheting off Jarrow keeper Graeme Pickering.

The hosts had their first of two efforts to hit the post in the 34th minute; Abubaker Salim with a corner that was met at the far post by Liam Mulvain.  His header rattled off the post before being cleared.

Within a minute Esh Winning extended their lead.  Ewan Forster rolled the ball across the Jarrow defence before slotting it between a couple of defenders and into the net.  With a minute to go before the break, Jarrow came close again to cutting Esh’s lead.  Lee McMahon had a first time shot hit the post.  The ball rebounded to James Talbot but he couldn’t keep his follow-up shot down and on target.

Jarrow started the second half with more energy and purpose.  Channon North played a one-two with Alex Thompson before North had a shot that scraped wide of the left post.  Fellow sub Bradley Tyrie dribbled past a couple of defenders and passed the ball to Talbot but Esh keeper Jak Wells was able to tip his shot over the bar.

Esh Winning’s fourth goal started with a long ball from the back, pitting Bates against Jarrow No. 2 Harry Simpson.  Bates managed to win the 50-50 before prodding the ball past Pickering.

As the game went into time added, Bates was initially denied his hat-trick when Pickering managed to get his leg to a goal-bound shot by the No. 9 only for Bates to get a second chance seconds later.  Lurking in the six-yard area, he threaded the ball past the keeper.  Hat trick completed as part of a comprehensive win, their fourth in a row to see out the season.

PS – there’ll be an interview with outgoing Jarrow manager Dave Bell tomorrow.

Mike Snowdon