Newton Aycliffe recorded a victory and a defeat in their final two March fixtures. This puts them into fourth place, two places inside the playoffs with just three more matches and two more away trips. Saturday starts off a home double with playoff hopefuls North Ferriby & local rivals Heaton Stannington visiting on the 5th & 12th respectively.
Remaining Fixtures
Saturday 5th April – North Ferriby (home)
Saturday 12th April – Heaton Stannington (home)
Saturday 19th April – Sherwood Colliery (away)
Monday 21st April (1pm) – Dunston (home)
Saturday 26th April – Ossett United (away)
PWDLFA+/-Pts
1 Cleethorpes Town 36 25 6 5 79 33 46 81
2 Dunston 37 22 8 7 78 43 35 74
3 Emley AFC 37 21 8 8 54 27 27 71
4 Newton Aycliffe 37 19 10 8 86 59 27 67
5 Stocksbridge Park 37 19 9 9 55 33 22 66
6 Belper Town 37 19 9 9 62 48 14 66
7 North Ferriby 36 20 5 11 53 40 13 65
8 Carlton Town 37 18 10 9 61 47 14 64
9 Garforth Town 37 15 8 14 48 44 4 53
10 Bradford 37 15 7 15 55 50 5 52
22nd March
Newton Aycliffe 1 v Stocksbridge Park Steels 2
This was a tough contest with lots of time wasting and cynical play throughout from the visitors, who happily took the three points by hook or by crook. Aycliffe were the first to take the lead when Liam Jarvie fired it low past Ben Townsend in the 26th minute. The visitors made it 1-1 on the stroke of half time, however, when James Morris equalised at close range. The second half saw heavy rainfall and early on Stocksbridge saved a penalty from Aycliffe’s Dean Thexton. It was a slow contest until Luke Rawson chipped Jim Pollard from range to make it 2-1. A few minutes later Aycliffe were reduced to ten men when Joe Ferguson was judged to have tackled too strongly in a 50/50. Despite a flurry of late chances the scoreline remained 1-2.
29th March
Garforth Town 0 v Newton Aycliffe 2
A brace from defender Aaron Brown, in the second half, was what separated the two teams in West Yorkshire. Garforth had an impressive home record going into the game, but Aycliffe wore them down to claim three huge points and a double over the newly promoted side. Elsewhere that day, Emley fell to a shock 3-1 defeat to Ashington and Bishop Auckland managed to stifle Belper Town with a 3-0 draw.
Match reports by Ryan Livingston. Photo by Yvonne Wood: Aaron Brown – scored both goals at Garforth.