Our panel of three football writers give their predictions on Newton Aycliffe’s game this weekend…
Three points are awarded if our ‘experts’ pick the exact score, 1 point awarded if they get the result correct.
No movement last week as all three judges failed to forsee the 5-1 humbling at Guisborough Town.
Glen Robertson – 10
Paul McGeary – 9
Martin Walker – 8
Looking to improve their fortunes this week, the panel run their eye over the visit of Durham.
Glen Robertson
One glance at the Northern League table tells you that there are currently six teams in the scrap at the bottom of the table. Newcastle Benfield, Team Northumbria and Marske could well be dragged into the battle in the coming months, but for now it looks as if three from the six will go. Therefore it’s imperative Aycliffe pick up points from games against the other struggling sides. Allan’s men have beaten Norton and drawn with South Shields, but defeats against Billingham Town and Durham City have not helped the cause. But that can be rectified on Saturday. A win over Durham would be massive – as would nine points from nine against Penrith (twice) and South Shields later on in December. The lads don’t tend to let you down when it matters. Home win.
Newton Aycliffe 2-1 Durham
Paul McGeary
Another Press Panel and another game which could go either way, especially given our Jekyll & Hyde form recently. One point seperates the sides and with us being at home surely any ‘expert’ would be tipping the home win, but if you scatch beneath the surface you’ll see Fred Woodhouse suspended and Danny Earl struggling to be fit. That’s 14 goals in real money! At the other end we hope to have Mark Peck back from injury and illness, while Darren Craddck returns from suspension so it should be a lot tighter than Guisborough’s front line found last week. I can see us conceding, and even without the front two I can see us scoring, but on both accounts I think it’ll be just one, so it’s my turn to get splinters in my backside this week.
Newton Aycliffe 1-1 Durham City
Martin Walker
Our fellow strugglers come to Moore Lane Park with a similarly topsy-turvy record to ours, but despite our blip at Guisborough last week, I reckon we’ll comfortably come out on top to climb above City in the table, much to the disappointment of Roberta Blackman-Woods, the Labour MP for Durham.
Newton Aycliffe 3-1 Durham City