NAYFC Women 1 v Birtley Women 6
From the very first whistle, our girls showed true grit. With sixteen available, we faced a tough Birtley side. They came out strong, pressing from the kick off, but Newton Aycliffe stood firm, showcasing a defensive masterclass that left Birtley frustrated in the first half.
Courtney Wilson in goal was nothing short of spectacular! She pulled off save after save, reading the game superbly. A stunning save late in the first half, tipping the ball onto the post – it rolled agonisingly across the goal line, hit the other post, but, unfortunately, we were slow to react and Birtley tapped it in to make it 0-1 just before half time.
Second half, Aycliffe continued to defend bravely, but Birtley upped the pressure, and the game shifted. A controversial moment saw a shot blocked by Bethany, hitting her knee, but to everyone’s surprise, a penalty was awarded, which was converted, making it 0-2.
Then came a bit of bad luck, when a shot rebounded off the post, hit Courtney’s back and rolled into the net, 0-3. Despite the setback, our heads never dropped. Even after conceding a second soft penalty and another long-range goal, which brought it to 0-5, we kept pushing forward. And then came our moment of magic! Jordan Saunders played a brilliant through ball to Bethany Mulhearn, who found herself out wide. Birtley thought they had her covered, but with the keeper off her line, she delivered a beautiful, floated shot that dipped perfectly over the keeper and nestled into the back of the net. As we pushed forward to reduce the deficit, we left ourselves a little exposed, and Birtley managed to sneak in a final goal in the 90th minute.
Player of the Match: Amber Dobson.
Amber was sensational today, both defensively and offensively, she was all over the pitch. A massive thank you to our incredible supporters who cheered us on from start to finish.
Ferryhill Town 5 v Newton Aycliffe Youth Seniors 1
Aycliffe knew it was going to be tough game, as we only travelled with a squad of 13.
For the first thirty minutes the lads worked hard closing down across the pitch, Ferryhill were finding it difficult and Aycliffe restricted them to efforts from range. Then Ferryhill got down the side of us and squared for a short range finish. Aycliffe had a couple of half chances to find a way back into the game, the best of these were from a free kick on the edge of the box followed by a corner with 90 seconds remaining of the first half which, on another day, would have given a penalty, Ferryhill scored their second right on half time. Into the second half, couple of chances for the lads, but they could not finish. Then a Ferryhill shot took two deflections to wrong foot Adam, 3-0. A decent Aycliffe move saw Niall receive the ball on the edge of the Ferryhill box, he went past one player and found the top corner. The next 10 minutes Aycliffe were the better team and again had chances to put Ferryhill under pressure, but the final ball/shot was lacking. Ferryhill added their 4th with the goal of the game with a great finish. In the final seconds, the home team added their fifth against the run of play. Although a tough scoreline, to be fair, it was a game Ferryhill deserved to win.
MOM, for the second game on the bounce, was Niall Douglas.