UPCOMING FIXTURES
Sat 8th Dec: Darlington 1883 (H) 3pm
Sat 15th Dec: Penrith (A) 3pm
Weds 19th Dec: Penrith (H) 7.30pm
Sat 22nd Dec: South Shields (H) 3pm
Weds 26th Dec: Bishop Auckland (A) 1pm
Fans of both Newton Aycliffe and Darlington are being asked to arrive in plenty of time for this weekend’s big derby.
The Newtonians welcome Quakers for the first-ever competitive game between the two sides at Moore Lane Park on Saturday (8th December), 3pm kick-off. Police will be coning off residential areas, meaning nearby parking will be extremely limited.
Aycliffe have a park-and-ride service operating from the Xcel Centre on Aycliffe Business Park, from 1.30pm on the day of the game, returning after the game, with parking for 100 cars available.
Aycliffe have also sold more than 300 pre-match tickets for the game, with a ticket-only entrance in operation to ease congestion. But the club are pleading with fans to give themselves plenty of time, for what promises to be a hectic afternoon.
General manager Dan Lewis said: “A tremendous amount of hard work and preparation has gone into this fixture to ensure everything goes smoothly, and to minimise disruption to nearby residents.
“Hopefully all that work will pay off and problems will be limited. Of course, it’s going to be busy, and the 45-60 minutes prior to kick-off promises to be hectic – we’re just appealing to fans of both sides to arrive as early as possible, and to think about local residents when parking your cars.”
Aycliffe’s game at home to Durham City was embarrassingly called off just 45 minutes before kick-off by dithering Northern League officials.
The Moore Lane Park playing surface was originally deemed playable by a local referee of the same standard at an 11.30am pitch inspection.
But match official Tony Peart, from Northallerton, rolled up at around 2pm before eventually postponing the fixture at 2.15pm, due to an eight-yard stretch of one of the touchlines causing concern. It disappointed Aycliffe players and management, who wanted to play the game, but the decision seemed to be welcomed by Aycliffe’s visitors. A number of fans had already turned up for the game, only to leave disappointed.
One of them said: “It’s a terrible decision. Our players wanted to play the game, the actual playing surface was fine.”
Aycliffe defended the match official. A spokesman said: “It’s always a difficult decision for a referee to make, he has the safety of the players to think about and also the safety of supporters. It is frustrating that the decision didn’t come until 2.15pm, but I’m sure all football supporters understand that’s the nature of the beast, and sometimes the weather just gets the better of us.”
• Aycliffe’s game at home to Celtic Nation on Wednesday night was also postponed, but they’re hoping their big game at home to Darlington this Saturday goes ahead as planned.
