Stocksbridge Park Steels 1, Newton Aycliffe 0
By Ryan Livingston
Newton Aycliffe’s nine-game unbeaten run ended at Stocksbridge Park Steels on Saturday.
Despite leaving Stocksbridge empty handed, Aycliffe played well considering they were down to ten men for over 80 minutes.
The game turned on its head when Dale Elgie received a red card in the eighth minute after he had little choice but to jostle and pull at Tomas Poole as he broke away.
The referee swiftly brandished the red card for a denial of goal scoring opportunity and suddenly Aycliffe had the prospect of a very long afternoon.
So it was somewhat surprising however when Stocksbridge didn’t make their man advantage count for much in the first half.
While the home side kept the Aycliffe defence under pressure, James Winter wasn’t challenged much in the first half.
Charlie Oglesby had a golden opportunity to score almost immediately after Elgie’s dismissal, but he skied it from close range.
Jack Dolman did find himself in a promising position just before the second half, but he decided to pass to Jack Tinker and Tinker lobbed a weak shot into the hands of Winter.
The second half saw Stocksbridge again have large amounts of possession, but Aycliffe would for the most part hold firm.
Eventually Aycliffe fell under the pressure, Jack Dolman, who had been Stocksbridge’s chief threat all afternoon broke away down the right wing and fired a low shot past Winter to make it 1-0 in the 65th minute
After that Stocksbridge mainly used their man advantage to sit back and defend, Aycliffe could get into the Stocksbridge box frequently enough, but Stocksbridge were determined to make any attacks impossible to finish.
Cieran Jackson did force a one handed save out of Ben Townsend, but other than that the Stocksbridge keeper didn’t have too much to worry about.
Late in the game Kyle Davis had a chance to equalize, but his shot missed from close range.
The game finished 1-0, in what was a somewhat harsh result considering Stocksbridge chances were very infrequent along with both Kyle Davis and Cieran Jackson’s misses late in the game.
Aycliffe return to Moore Lane on Saturday (March 23) when Winterton Rangers will be the visitors.
It’s Non-League Day on Saturday. With no Premier League or Championship games due to the international break it’s an ideal time to get along and support your local club. Admission is £9 adults, £6 concessions & £3 under 18s.
The above picture, by Yvonne Wood, shows Charlie Dawson on the attack at Stocksbridge.