Huntsman 1, West Auckland Club 0
By Craig Woodhead
Following their win against The Sports Club, Huntsman were back in action at the weekend at home to West Auckland Club who before the game topped the league above in the Darlington Charity Cup.
Manager Neil Dodds chose to make five changes to the line up as Jamie Herd, Ryan Mercer, Carl Bates, Ollie Gell and Shaun Sproates were all recalled to the starting eleven, with regulars Michael Sproates, Reed Molloy, Lee Redpath and Andrew Richardson all dropping to the bench.
The Huntsman got off to a great start, and set the tempo from the off with a high press never given the West backline a second on the ball, this resulted in some early chances and a couple of penalty appeals which were turned down.
They finally rewarded when they got the break through just before half time, as Ryan Durr broke down the left hand side and his arcing ball enabled Shaun Sproates to nod back across goal to give Ollie Gell a tap in for his first goal of the season.
The Huntsman continued to press after the break and had several chances to extend their advantage, and ultimately West Auckland did little to trouble Anthony McDonald in the Huntsman goal as the match finished 1-0 to take the Huntsman into the quarter final. A special mention to MOTM Stuart Ord who along with the rest of The Huntsman back four were excellent.
Next up for The Huntsman is a league game at home game against Willington Queen’s Head 10:30KO at Simpasture where victory will see them open up a 3 point gap at the top of the table. Photo’s courtesy of Tom Clegg.