Newton Aycliffe 1, North Shields 2
Newton Aycliffe gave league-leaders North Shields a good test, despite having four key players missing.
Both sides tried to play good football throughout the match, but it was the Robins who dominated the first half, going in at the break 2-0 up.
They came out strongly from the start, and James Winter made two good saves in the first quarter of an hour.
The pressure exerted by Shields came to tell though, when on 17 minutes a good cross from the right was volleyed in by Ryan Carr.
Aycliffe pressed for an equaliser, and Robins keeper Kyle Hayes made a good save on 21 minutes.
RobIns left-back Mark Lancaster was proving to be a good outlet, and prompted many of their attacks.
Aycliffe were struggling to come to grips with the speed of the Robin’s counter-attacking style. This was punished again on 27 minutes, when another good cross from the right was turned in by Dean Holmes.
Aycliffe played much better in the second half, and had the edge.
On 59 minutes, Campbell brought a good save from Hayes. Three minutes later, a handball in the penalty box led to a penalty kick. Campbell stepped up and put the spot-kick away with confidence.
Aycliffe were having a good spell in the game, and within a minute Scott Howes hit the post.
After that, Aycliffe pressed for an equaliser, but couldn’t make the breakthrough.
North Shields continued to counter-attack, but couldn’t reproduce the quality of their first-half crosses and finishing.
The match was dominated by the midfield players, with Brian Close and Gary Ormston having fine games.
Aycliffe’s next game is a trip to West Allotment Celtic in the league this Saturday (November 26).