Friday 23rd February
Hebburn Town 2 v Newton Aycliffe 2
Newton Aycliffe remained within a point of the play-offs following an encounter with Hebburn Town last Friday. The game finished 2-2 in what was a very competitive and fast paced game. Aycliffe won the reverse fixture played in October courtesy of a Cieran Jackson last minute winner and this game would also contain a late goal too.
Hebburn showed intent from the off, experienced striker Amar Purewal had the games first attack but fired wide. The next 20 minutes or so would be very end to end, but both sides struggled to retain much possession on a very heavy pitch which frequently led to wayward passes for both teams.
Since his return to Aycliffe, Liam Jarvie has been in fine form and he added yet another goal to his tally 30 minutes in to the first half, Jarvie was just outside the box and hit the ball with just enough to strength to overpower Hebburn’s Kieran Hunter with the perfect volley. Hunter got a hand to it, but the ball just flew out of it as quick as he touched it.
Jarvie could have had a brace within two minutes, but this time Hunter managed to hang on to Jarvie’s shot. Cieran Jackson also broke through, but his shot was saved by Hunter. Ethan Wood would have Aycliffe’s final attack of the half, Wood did well to dribble the ball from outside the box deeper inside, but he couldn’t find anyone and his shot just wasn’t strong enough to overpower Hunter.
Hebburn went into the second half with two changes and it was an immediate impact as Purewal found Robbie Spence who easily equalised after sluggish Aycliffe defending 49th minute. Parity would only last for seconds however, as in the 52nd minute Jake Petitjean got on a header at close range.
The next segment of the game would be very end to end. With Aycliffe holding a lot of midfield possession, but surviving several scares including James Winter doing well to save a header from Purewal. Aycliffe would try to attack further, but rarely got close enough to Hunter to challenge him. As the game drew closer to the final whistle, Hebburn attacks became more and more frequent, and eventually the pressure proved too much when Matthew Elsdon scored in an extremely crowded box to make it 2-2.
Aycliffe have a midweek game at Consett but then return to Moore Lane for three consecutive games: Cleethorpes Town on Saturday 2nd March, league leaders Stockton Town on Tuesday 5th and Stocksbridge Park Steels on Saturday 9th March. The Club’s hoping for a good turnout from Newtonians as the play-off push continues.
Photo by Yvonne Wood of Jake Petitjean who scores Aycliffe’s second goal. Match report by Ryan Livingston.
