Newton Aycliffe 2, Carlisle City 1
By Bob Wood
Aycliffe bounced back from their defeat in the FA Vase last week with a League win over Carlisle City.
The Cumbrians are in their first season in Division One having finished champions of Division Two last year.
Aycliffe boss Brian Atkinson had strengthened his squad with Eddie Thomas coming in.
The former Gateshead striker, who will be 20 next month, has had loan spells with Crook Town and Newcastle Benfield before coming to the SecuriCorp Stadium.
And he made an immediate impact, scoring the winning goal on his debut.
The Newtonians had to come from behind to take the points on Saturday.
Carlisle took the lead in the 38th minute. A long ball forward caused a mix up in the Aycliffe defence. Callum Birdsall managed to get a toe to the ball which rolled into the net.
The second half saw a better performance from the home side. On 53 minutes they levelled the score. A cross from the left from Ethan Wood was headed goalwards by Marc Costello. The keeper could only parry but Liam Adamson was able to head the loose ball over the line.
With two minutes remaining Callum Munro played a fine cross into the box from the right wing. The ball fell to Thomas who turned and fired past the diving keeper.
As the game went into added time Carlisle went down to 10 men when the referee’s attention was brought by his assistant to an off the ball incident which resulted in Daniel Kirkup being sent off.
There was a final scare for the Aycliffe defence when the ball fell to a Carlisle forward just outside the six-yard box.
Fortunately, his shot flew high over the bar and headed towards the Gretna.
That concluded the action giving Aycliffe the three points, keeping them in third place in the table.
An away game at second place Whitley Bay, on Tuesday November 1, follows. Aycliffe then return to Moore Lane on Saturday, November 5, when another Cumbrian team, Penrith, will be the visitors.
Fixtures
Tuesday 1 November – Whitley Bay (a)
Saturday 5 November – Penrith (h)
Saturday 12 November – Seaham Red Star (a)
Tuesday 15 November – Consett (h) Durham Challenge Cup
Saturday 19 November – Redcar Athletic (h)
Saturday 26 November – Crook Town (a)
You can keep up to date with fixtures via the club website www.newtonaycliffefc.co.uk and catch highlights of matches via the Newton Aycliffe Football Club YouTube channel.
• The above picture, by Yvonne Wood, shows Eddie Thomas celebrating scoring on his debut for Aycliffe.