Saturday 19 January 2019
Ebac Northern League Division One
Newton Aycliffe 2 Dunston UTS 5
Newton Aycliffe went down 5-2 at home to table-topping Dunston. A new management team of Allan Oliver and Danny Mellanby saw their side give a good account of themselves; they played with 10 men for seventy minutes, and the scoreline didn’t reflect the play.
Aycliffe created the best chance in the opening exchanges, with Marc Costello seeing a header hit the post. It was Dunston who made the breakthrough though when a quick breakaway led to Fitzpatrick being put through and he made no mistake past Adam Pickford. Aycliffe suffered a massive blow on 22 minutes when Josh Rodgers was unlucky to be sent off.
Aycliffe were still creating chances, and Ethan Wood and Josh Home-Jackson both got shots in, but didn’t trouble Dunston keeper Harrison. Dunston hit the bar on 33 minutes and three minutes later, they went further ahead when Elliot burst through and slotted past Pickford. The second half was fairly even until Dunston got a third on 69 minutes. Nellis found a bit of space at the far post and hit a powerful shot high into the net. Aycliffe pulled one back six minutes later when Costello headed in a Wood free-kick.
Dunston killed the game with two goals in three minutes late on, with Fitzpatrick getting his hat trick. Aycliffe pulled one back with two minutes to go, with Stuart Thompson finishing off good work by Kurt Matthews, with the match ending 2-5.
Aycliffe’s next match is away to West Auckland on Saturday 26 January. They then have a weekend off before returning to Moore Lane for the visit of Sunderland RCA on Saturday 9 February. That game will be followed, on Tuesday 12 February, by the Quarter Final of the Mitre Brooks Mileson Memorial League when Aycliffe have been drawn at home to Whitley Bay.
MOTM : Aaron Brown. Attendance : 110. Cautions : Oliver, Matthews. Dismissal : Rodgers. Substitutes : Clarke for Byrne (62m), Alsabeeb for Home-Jackson (63m), Thompson for Harrison (72m)
Photo: Man of the Match Aaron Brown
