Newton Aycliffe 3, Penrith 4
Aycliffe’s hopes of improving on their third place position were knocked back with a 4-3 defeat at home to Penrith.
Aycliffe started brightly and went ahead after four minutes through a Dennis Knight shot from outside the area.
They were unlucky not to extend their lead when they hit the bar on 11 minutes. Dennis Knight bettered his earlier goal with a 25 yard screamer to make it 2-0 on the half hour.
Penrith came back into the game and Martyn Coleman pulled on back to make it 2-1 at half-time.
Penrith came out strongly in the second half and added two goals in the first seven minutes through Andrew Murray-Jones and Richard Faustino, the latter being another long distance screamer.
Aycliffe got back to 3-3 through John Campbell, before Coleman got his second to put Penrith back in the lead at 4-3.
Aycliffe pressed but couldn’t get the equaliser, despite Penrith losing Samuel Bell to a second yellow card.
Penrith goalkeeper Josh Richardson pulled off a great save at the end to ensure that Penrith took all three points.
Aycliffe are now in a run of five consecutive games at Moore Lane. They face West Allotment Celtic on Tuesday (September 20), followed by Marske United on Saturday (Sept 24).