Newton Aycliffe’s Wembley dream came to an abrupt end with a comprehensive 5-0 defeat at Camberley Town on Saturday. Aycliffe made the 550 mile round trip to Surrey with high hopes of being able to progress to the Quarter Finals of the FA Vase. However, a very below par Aycliffe side proved no match for the Combined Counties team.
Aycliffe were playing a last 16 tie in the FA Vase for the first time in their history & were delighted to see how many loyal fans had made the long trip south. Not many among the 460 strong crowd could have predicted the final score & certainly for most of the first half Aycliffe held their own.
Indeed, Aycliffe came quickest out of the blocks with Matty Moffat latching onto a long ball in the first minute. Unfortunately his shot was blocked. The visitors continued to apply pressure with Dennis Knight & Stuart Banks both causing difficulties in the first ten minutes.
Camberley soon fought back with a move down the right leading to a cross which was cleared by Dan Mitton. That was followed by an inswinging corner which was punched clear by James Winter. Further pressure came from Camberley centre half Chris Ellis, a long throw-in
specialist, who caused problems for Aycliffe at every opportunity.
With five minutes to go before half time Camberley got the breakthrough. Perry Coles just beating Winter to the ball which looped over the keeper & into the net.
The home side doubled their lead within two minutes of the second half kicking off. A ball from midfield was played out to the left with Rob Lazarczuk firing past Winter. Aycliffe tried to battle back with shots from Banks & Knight but neither could beat the Camberley keeper.
The third goal came after 54 minutes with Coles bagging his second from a rebound after Winter had made an excellent diving save from an initial shot. If that was not enough to put the game beyond doubt a red card for Ashley Coffey with 15 minutes to go sealed Aycliffe’s fate. Camberley weren’t finished though with two more goals in the last ten minutes. Both came from corners. The first was a header from substitute James Hubbard & then with five minutes to go Lazarczuk scored his second direct from a corner.
This loss was a massive disappointment for Aycliffe who had played so well in the earlier rounds of the competition. However, there were no complaints & Camberley thoroughly deserved to progress on the day. On reflection though we must congratulate the team on achieving the best runs the club has had in its 50 year history in both the FA Cup and FA Vase.
The team must immediately pick itself up & visit Washington in the Quarter Finals of the Durham Challenge Cup on Tuesday 2 February. That game will be followed by a return to Northern League action with Jarrow Roofing visiting Moore Lane Park on Saturday 6 February. Aycliffe remain 7th in Division One despite having games in hand on teams above them.
Kick off Saturday 3:00pm with admission £6 adults, £4 concessions & under 12s free if accompanied by an adult.
The cup runs and bad weather has resulted in a fixture backlog meaning that Aycliffe will now need to play twice a week for the rest of the season. Full details of fixtures are available at www.newtonaycliffefc.co.uk
