Belper Town 0, Newton Aycliffe 2
Newton Aycliffe pulled off a stunning win at high-flying Belper Town on Saturday.
The hosts had hopes of going top of the NPL East but Brian Atkinson’s side had other ideas in a game they deservedly won, earning the three points & moving them up to 15th in the table.
Due to their successful cup runs Aycliffe have games in hand on most of the teams around them.
Belper had the first chance of the game. A corner in the fourth minute fell to Swales whose shot from 30 yards out was spectacularly tipped over the bar by Jim Pollard.
However, Aycliffe got into their stride with some impressive play moving the ball around well and testing the home defence.
After 34 minutes a ball played through to Liam Adamson found him one on one with the keeper who managed to save the shot.
The breakthrough just came three minutes later. Great build up play between Dean Thexton and Liam Jarvie broke through the Belper defence and found Adamson.
His perfectly weighted pass was met by Toby Pascoe who slotted home from a tight angle.
Aycliffe showed great determination in the second half to prevent Belper getting the equaliser with Joe Ferguson and Alex Nelson to the fore.
The Nailers came closest in the 53rd minute with a shot that hit the post.
The visitors sealed the points in the last minute. A short corner from Ethan Wood found Ferguson who played a fine pass to Liam Jarvie. He fired a low shot past the keeper to secure the win.
Aycliffe play a home league game against Consett on Tuesday night.
That is followed by the next round of the Isuzu FA Trophy. Aycliffe travel to NPL Premier side Stockton Town on Saturday (October 26).
Whichever side wins will set their record for their best FA Trophy run and go into the draw as the Step 2 clubs join the competition.
• The above picture, by Yvonne Wood, shows goalscorer Toby Pascoe in action at Belper.