Newton Aycliffe 3, Penrith 1
By Bob Wood
Newton Aycliffe took the three points in Saturday’s home game against Penrith on Saturday.
The win saw the Newtonians maintain their third place in the Ebac Northern League Division One.
Both sides did well to put on a show in the conditions with the rain, at times, torrential.
Aycliffe took the lead on the half hour. Callum Munro took a run down the right wing before passing to Marc Costello whose cross into the box was headed down by Jake Petitjean. The ball fell to Aycliffe number 9, Eddie Thomas who fired home from close range.
The advantage didn’t last for long as within five minutes Penrith had the equaliser. The home defence failed to clear a cross into the box and Alfie Brunskill was on hand to place the loose ball beyond keeper Decklan Greenwood.
The second half saw chances for both sides with Penrith hitting the post on more than one occasion.
However, it was Aycliffe who made the breakthrough in the 76th minute. A long ball from Costello found Liam Adamson on the left wing. He cut inside the defender & placed his shot out of the reach of the diving Penrith keeper.
Aycliffe sealed the points with a stunning goal from Munro with just over five minutes remaining.
The ball fell to the defender some 60 yards out. Hitting the ball first time his shot (clearance?) sailed over the head of the stranded keeper and into the back of the net. It was an astonishing feat which has since been viewed over 6,000 times on the club’s Twitter account.
With no midweek game this week Brian Atkinson has time to prepare his squad for the trip to Seaham Red Star on Saturday.
That game will be followed by the visit of Consett to the SecuriCorp Stadium on Tuesday, November 17 (7.30pm) for a Durham Challenge Cup tie.
Aycliffe remain at home the following Saturday, November 19, for a league game against Redcar Athletic.
• The above picture, by Yvonne Wood, shows Liam Adamson scoring Aycliffe’s second goal against Penrith.