Newton Aycliffe 4 Bishop Auckland 2
By Dave Strickland
Newton Aycliffe beat Bishop Auckland 4-2 at Moore Lane Park in an entertaining game on Saturday, despite being down to ten men for half an hour.
Bishops started brightly and McAloon put a good chance over the bar on nine minutes.
A minute later they went ahead through a disputed penalty that Johnson converted.
Aycliffe suffered a further blow on the quarter hour when Andrew Grant-Soulsby got injured. He was replaced by Jamie Davis. Bishops were on top and Aycliffe had to make a goal line clearance on 24 minutes.
However, on the half hour they equalised when Kurt Matthews found Craig Hutchinson and he drilled his shot low into the corner.
Bishops got ahead again on 35 minutes when McAloon escaped his marker and got his shot away for 2-1.
It was end-to-end stuff, and Aycliffe equalised two minutes later, Paul Kane getting on the end of a flick-on header from a free-kick.
The second half continued in the same vein as the first, with both sides on the attack.
It was Aycliffe who got in front on the hour when Kane got round the back and crossed to Jamie Davis who scored with a well executed back-flick.
It looked like Aycliffe would throw it away when Ben Trotter got sent off two minutes later, but the 10 men went on to equal Bishops in all areas.
They got their reward on 90 minutes when Glen Lane scored with a stunning free-kick.
Upcoming fixtures are Dunston at home on Tuesday (November 14, 7.30pm) in the League Cup, followed by Billingham Synthonia at home on Saturday (November 18, 3pm).
