Newton Aycliffe 2, Hebburn Town 1
Newton Aycliffe showed character, determination and fortitude to come from behind with ten men to gain three massive points against NPL East high-flyers Hebburn Town at the weekend.
The Hornets, backed by a sizeable away following, saw their team score first, after sustained pressure early on from Amar Purewal, in the Friday night fixture.
Just after the half hour Purewal found Olly Martin at close range who wasted no time in firing the ball into the net.
Purewal, the former Darlington man, was Hebburn’s main source of attacks, and it was due to marking him that JD Costello was shown a yellow card with a second following shortly after.
The latter stages of the first half and the initial part of the second half was a relatively quiet affair, with Hebburn seemingly happy to sit back on a 1-0 lead.
Aycliffe, namely Cieran Jackson, would keep chipping away at Hebburn’s defence.
With ten minutes remaining Jackson won a free kick in a promising position on the edge of the box.
Ethan Wood blasted it in, a brilliantly taken free kick from the left side of the pitch, into the bottom right side of the goal, followed by an equally impressive acrobatic goal celebration.
It wouldn’t take long for Hebburn to get a promising free kick of their own, but the looping ball outside the box was easily claimed by Daniel Cameron.
Despite having ten men, Aycliffe had all the momentum now, and Oscar Eckley-Aldsworth was unlucky to see his curling, long range shot hit the bar.
Aycliffe wouldn’t have to worry about spurned chances however, as Jack Clarkson found Cieran Jackson at close range, who hit a low shot past Hebburn’s keeper to make it 2-1 in the 90th minute.
With a long wait of five minutes added time, Aycliffe showed traits such as character, teamwork, and graft to gain three valuable points at the SecuriCorp Stadium.
After the weekend’s results Aycliffe lie in 13th position on 12 points. They now face away trips to Esh Winning (in the Durham Challenge Cup) on October 10, Cleethorpes Town on October 14, Belper Town on October 21 before returning to the SecuriCorp Stadium to face Consett on October 28.
• The above pic, by Yvonne Wood, shows Ethan Wood celebrating his goal.