By Joe Ramage
Colin Stromsoy hailed his side’s character following a huge win at The Wanted Stadium over West Auckland Town.
The Newton Aycliffe boss saw his team come from behind in the second half with two wonder goals from Ethan Wood and Adam Burnicle after Aaron Thompson had given the home side the lead from the penalty spot early in the second half.
It is a win that maintains Aycliffe’s unbeaten start to the league campaign and sees the team sitting fourth in the Ebac Northern League Division One table.
“We showed real character to come from behind in the manner we did,” said Stromsoy.
“The game swung quite a lot but we showed a real grit and determination and I believe we deserved to win in the end.”
Wood arrowed a wonderful strike beyond goalkeeper Sam Guthrie a little over a minute after Thompson had given West the lead following Aaron Brown’s collision with Kyle Fryatt before Burnicle produced a stunning strike with the outside of his foot five minutes later to complete the turnaround.
“The goals were really, really good,” said Stromsoy.
“We didn’t work their keeper as much as we should have done, the final ball was a little bit off today but we kept at it.
“It was a good game, but as a coach I want it closed up.
“As players it can become nervy where you sometimes don’t make the right decisions and as a result it became a bit more like a basketball game at times.
“I knew it was going to be a really hard game – they changed their set up to combat us.
“West will take far more points from teams at home than they’ll lose so it’s a really huge three points for us.
“They’re a really good team, they’re well organised so for us to come here and get three points it’s an absolutely fantastic result.”
• Newton Aycliffe now have two home games in the Ebac Northern League Division One. Whickham will visit the Beaumont Landscapes Stadium on Saturday, October 24 (3pm) with Consett following on Tuesday, Oct 27 (7.45pm).
Under current Covid rules crowd capacity is limited to 150. Admission is £6 adults, £4 concessions & is “pay on gate”.
The club can now take card payments at the turnstile. Fans are asked to check in at the ground using the NHS Covid app, use the hand sanitiser provided and maintain social distancing.
