WEST AUCKLAND 0-0 JARROW ROOFING
Saturday 9 February, 3:00PM, League
West Auckland and Stuart Owen were denied a match winning goal by a debatable offside flag as West were held to a goalless home draw in a crunch clash against bottom of the table Jarrow Roofing
The first half was a scrappy affair and it took 8 minutes for the first meaningful effort which saw Jarrow's Richard Paxton test Alan Wilkinson from around 25 yards with a low shot that the keeper pushed behind for a corner. From this Phil Graham was unable to force the ball home followed by Craig Tate toe-poking wide in a promising position.
Whilst Jarrow had the better start, West slowly started to get to terms and Paul Freary was unlucky not to get onto the end of Dale Jardine's flick. West's best move came in the 26th minute - Bryan Stewart released Freary and his cross saw Jardine unable to stretch enough to get the ball on target.
The lead - or so the hosts thought, came in the 37th minute. Stuart Owen started the move with a cross field ball to Bryan Stewart. The tricky midfielder laid the ball into path of James Chapman whose shot rolled across goal and Owen seemingly ran from behind his marker to tap the ball home from a couple of yards. However the assistant referee raised his flag stating Owen was in an offside position therefore the goal chalked off.
Three minutes before the break persistence nearly paid off for West's Neil Robinson as he won his battle in the box to win the ball back form the defender and was unlucky to see his shot flash the wrong side of the post. Craig Tate though nearly had Jarrow in the lead with seconds remaining with a shot that flashed across the face of goal.
West Auckland came out flying in the second half - they were inches from being ahead after 65 seconds when Stuart Owen fizzed the ball across the 6 yard box and the unmarked Bryan Stewart was just unable to connect. From the ball back across Dale Jardine was unable to trouble the goalkeeper with his header.
There were strong hand ball claims waved away when James Chapman's shot was blocked in the box and Jarrow responded to the pressure with a wayward shot over the bar. A 58th minute Bryan Stewart free kick somehow evaded the heads of three West players - Freary, Robinson and Fairhurst, who had all found space in the area.
The lead should have followed 4 minutes later when Freary found Owen in acres of space but the winger took too long to pick his spot, was forced to come inside onto his weaker right foot and the shot was saved by Adam Dowell. From the rebound, Dale Jardine set himself up from a volley which was held by the keeper.
Dowell was the busier of the two keepers and twice in a matter of minutes he had to deny Bryan Stewart with good stops. Stewart then led a break following a Jarrow corner, and set up Ian Maddison who could not quite keep his shot on target.
Whilst at 0-0 the game was finely poised and Jarrow nearly won it when a shot was arrowing into the corner only to be denied by a fine Alan Wilkinson save. West responded by coming the closest apart from a goal - they rattled the post when Stuart Owen cut inside and saw the keeper just get enough on it to deflect the ball onto the post.
Jarrow's Craig Tate tried to snatch the three points in the last minute with a shot that was held by Wilkinson but both sides finished the game with a point and both will look for the three points in Tuesday's reverse fixture.
1. Alan Wilkinson, 2. Ian Maddison, 3. Kevin Bromley, 4. Michael Heckley, 5. Brian Fairhurst, 6. Bryan Stewart, 7. Neil Robinson, 8. James Chapman, 9. Dale Jardine, 10. Paul Freary (12. Chris Creamer 75 mins), 11. Stuart Owen
Subs Not Used: 14. Gary Close, 15. Thomas Louden
Pictures