Forthcoming Fixtures
Saturday 24 January – Marske United (away) 3pm
Saturday 31 January – Sunderland RCA (home) 3pm
Saturday 7 February – Penrith (away) 3pm
Saturday 14 February – Celtic Nation (home) 3pm
Newton Aycliffe FC recorded a third 3-0 win in four games by beating Ashington last week. The result went a long way to overcome the disappointment of the defeat to Shildon a few days before. The first half started & finished in a heavy snow shower but the players on both teams did well to entertain the meagre and very cold crowd.
Aycliffe started brightly forcing a save from the keeper after 3mins. Shortly afterwards the ball was in the Ashington net but Jordan Laidler was ruled offside. Ashington came back at the home side and had shots but not seriously troubling James Winter in the Aycliffe goal.
On 23 mins Aycliffe had a penalty shout turned down by the referee but two minutes later were awarded a free kick just outside the box. Laidler took the kick and his perfectly judged shot found the net.
As half time approached the snow came down heavier but the players battled on and on 42 mins a tricky run by Dennis Knight was ended when he was tripped in the box. Stuart Banks comfortably scored the resulting penalty.
As the players came out for the second half Aycliffe fans were relieved to see that the snow had stopped and we could still see the lines. Fears of an abandonment, unlike the lines, disappeared.
Ashington tried hard to pull a goal back with a shot deflected for a corner on 51 mins and further efforts off target. The nearest they came was on 70 mins when only a double save from Winter kept the visitors at bay.
Two minutes later Aycliffe got their third when Laidler scored after great pressure from Paul Garthwaite in the box. There was no return from that point for Ashington who had the misfortune of losing James Taylor to a knee injury shortly before the final whistle.
For Laidler that was his second brace in consecutive Tuesday nights. This, though, was an excellent team performance with the defence in particular playing well in difficult conditions with Andrew Green outstanding at its heart.
Aycliffe had hoped to take the momentum from the Ashington game onto Bedlington but last Saturday’s match was postponed due to the Northumberland side’s pitch being frozen. Moving on, Aycliffe are scheduled to play Marske twice in a week, home in the League Cup and away in the League. Hopefully the weather won’t be a factor.
