Newton Aycliffe 1-2 Steels
Stocksbridge Park Steels came from behind to inflict a rare home loss on Newton Aycliffe.
Both teams looked to play good football in the early parts of the match but neither were able to up the pace. Stocksbridge were having more of the possession. However, the most they were able to make of it was a Luke Rawson volley which he didn’t get much power on, meaning it wasn’t much of a test for Jim Pollard in the Newton Aycliffe goal.
However despite the Steels possession, it was Newton Aycliffe who struck first. The initial corner was cleared but it fell to Luke Jarvie who struck the ball well on the edge of the box. It would go on to find the bottom corner, giving the home side the lead.
Stocksbridge slowly grew back into the game and got a massive goal right before half time. James Morris had been taken down for the free kick, and Danny Deakin swung it in. Morris flicked on the header and it found its way into the net, serving a massive blow to Newton Aycliffe.
Both teams went for it in the second half and it became a far more exciting match because of it. And the drama would soon arrive. Dean Thexton went down in the box following a challenge from Paul Iggulden and the referee pointed to the spot. Thexton then stepped up, and this time Ben Townsend guessed right, making an impressive save to his right to stop the well-hit strike. Newton Aycliffe kept getting the ball back into the box but the Steels held firm, denying the home team the lead.
And Stocksbridge would take advantage of this. After getting some good territory in the Newton Aycliffe bar, Deakin cut the defence in half with a brilliant pass, finding the run of Rawson. The striker lofted the ball over Pollard, giving Stocksbridge the lead.
More drama was to come. As the ball went into a 50-50, Joe Ferguson went high when challenging Deakin. The foul was called and after plenty of protests from both teams, the referee had no choice but to send Ferguson off.
Despite being down to ten men, Newton Aycliffe seemed to get better. They threw everything at the Steels defence to try and get an equaliser. Pollard almost got the dramatic equaliser, but the goalkeeper was denied by his counterpart Townsend who tipped it over the bar. A few last ditch clearances within the six-yard area from the likes of Jack Tinker and Rawson later and Stocksbridge had got all of the three points.
