Tuesday 21 November
Belper Town 3 v Newton Aycliffe 4
Newton Aycliffe made the long trip to second placed Belper on Tuesday night and, with the league’s top scorer on their books, it was going to be no easy task for Brian Atkinson’s side.
This made it all the more surprising when Aycliffe broke the deadlock within four minutes, Liam Adamson not only outpacing Belper’s Danny South, but gifting the ball to Kyle Davis, who fired a low shot in at close range. The attack was so rapid, Belper’s keeper Johnathan Hedge could merely put his hands in the air to signal his frustration at his side’s lethargic defending.
It wouldn’t be the only time the Adamson and Davis combo led to a goal either, Adamson’s cross hit Belper’s Kieran Walker which ricocheted the ball to the feet of Davis, who then turned, positioned himself promptly and fired a wonderful curling shot straight into the top corner to make it 2-0 within 20 minutes.
Six minutes later, the deadly combo of Adamson and Davis haunted Belper again. Adamson completely outpacing Belper’s Anthony Mackie and, while his pass again ricocheted off a Belper defender, Davis found the ball and wasted no time in making it 3-0.
Belper still threatened despite their sluggish start and, when Alex Troke was felled in the box in the 31st minute, the referee gave a penalty that was converted by Mason Warren.
There is little better in football than observing a brilliant attacking partnership, which is exactly what the Aycliffe faithful were treated to when Davis sent a long pass to Adamson, which he sprinted straight down the pitch with, beating two defenders before speeding past Belper’s keeper to make it 4-1 to Aycliffe on the cusp of half time.
The second half was a scrappier affair, characterised by long periods of Belper possession amid frequent stoppages. Substitute Cameron Johnson scoring via a long range shot in the 55th minute.
League top scorer Kevin Bastos was probably Belper’s most threatening player, and he got his goal in the 68th minute, Danny South heading it from a corner, the ball fumbled about before finding the feet of Bastos who tapped in with ease to make it 3-4.
The closing minutes were to be an extremely tense affair, as Aycliffe soaked up attack after attack from Belper, almost all involving long throw-ins and corners. Nathan Fisher made a plethora of integral saves within this period of the game.
Photo by Yvonne Wood: Kyle Davis celebrating his hat-trick at Belper. Match report by Ryan Livingston.
Saturday 25th November
Newton Aycliffe 4 v Grantham Town 1
Newton Aycliffe capped off a brilliant week by beating Belper 4-3 on Tuesday, and Grantham Town 4-1 on Saturday. The result would have felt sweet for the home side, as Aycliffe were arguably the better side in their narrow 3-2 defeat at Grantham in September.
Even in comparison to other teams, Aycliffe have played this season, Grantham offered extremely little of note throughout. In the eleventh minute, Ethan Wood passed just inside the box to Liam Adamson, who fired a sweet finish over the goalkeeper, even that early in the game you could feel an Aycliffe goal had been coming.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the game was the fact Grantham went into the second half just 1-0 down. As Aycliffe consistently put pressure on their defenders who struggled to deal with the pace of Liam Adamson and Cole Kiernan. Kiernan was especially unlucky to not score several times in the game. On the defending side of things, the few times Grantham did come forward, they gave Nathan Fisher very little to worry about.
In the second half, Aycliffe still had more possession and much better chances. Liam Adamson’s shot just barely hit the bar and went over early in the second half. After some more pressure, Jack Naylor ran into the box and gently passed to Cieran Jackson who scored from a tight angle.
Grantham’s most notable chance at this point came from Rodrigo Goncalves, but all he could do was tap the ball straight into the hands of Fisher. To make it a decisive Aycliffe win, Wayne Whitfield’s pass found Jack Raper who outpaced Grantham’s sluggish defense to make it 3-0.
Grantham would get a goal, and it came very much against the run of play, Rodrigo Goncalves found the foot of Ifyanyi Ofoegbu to score a consolation goal late in the day. Aycliffe, however, would immediately retaliate and Liam Adamson’s pacey run and precise finish bamboozled everyone in the Grantham box to make it 4-1 and cap off a stellar home performance.
The result moved Aycliffe up to 13th place in the Northern Premier League East Division, on 19pts. They now face two away trips, Winterton Rangers in Lincolnshire on Saturday 2 December followed on Tuesday night by the rearranged trip to Pontefract Collieries.
Photo by Yvonne Wood: Jake Petitjean gets his head to the ball in Saturday’s win against Grantham Town. Match Report by Ryan Livingston.
