Newton Aycliffe 3, Bishop Auckland 2
By Bob Wood
Newton Aycliffe produced a stunning comeback to beat league-leaders Bishop Auckland at the SecuriCorp Stadium on Tuesday.
Bishop are currently top the Ebac Northern League, with Aycliffe sitting in fourth as they went into the Bank Holiday derby.
The excellent crowd of 439 who turned out to watch the match saw a tight first half with both sides having chances but failing to score.
It was the visitors who made the breakthrough on the stroke of half-time. James Risbrough broke free on the right wing and cutting infield fired past Adam McHugh.
Bishop doubled their lead three minutes into the second half with an effort from Marcus Giles out wide evading McHugh.
At this point the game turned completely. Anthony Callaghan pulled a goal back on 51 minutes with a fine strike from the edge of the penalty area which struck the underside of the crossbar on its way into the net.
The equaliser came six minutes later when Ethan Wood evaded a defender to slot a pass through to Liam Jarvie. The Aycliffe forward turned and struck a low shot past the diving Bishop ‘keeper.
Jarvie grabbed his second on 73 minutes when he broke through the defence from the half-way line, calmly rounding the keeper as he scored the winner.
Aycliffe suffered a setback on 77 minutes when Joe Ferguson was sent off for a second yellow card but the 10 men were able to hold on for the win which moved them up to third in the league.
The next match at the SecuriCorp Stadium will be on Saturday, January 7, when West Auckland will be the visitors.
January fixtures
Saturday 7 January (3pm) West Auckland – home
Wednesday 11 January (7:45pm) Guisborough Town – away
Saturday 14 January (3pm) Newcastle Benfield – away
Saturday 21 January (3pm) Whitley Bay – home
Saturday 28 January (3pm) Tow Law – away
The above picture, by Yvonne Wood, shows double scorer Liam Jarvie in action at Moore Lane.