SPENNYMOOR TOWN 2-1 WEST AUCKLAND
Saturday 22 December, 3:00PM, League
10 man West Auckland battled for an hour and even took the lead before having their hopes dashed in the closing stages of the game as Spennymoor hit back to inflict an unfortunate defeat on the visitors.
Kevin Bromley flashed an early shot across the goal in the fourth minute but following this both sides struggled to create any openings on a slippy surface. Spennymoor's first effort came in the 21st minute and they perhaps should have taken the lead with Jamie Clarke breaking clear of this marker only to be denied by an excellent stop by Alan Wilkinson.
However the flash point of the game saw West harshly down to 10 men. With the ball heading out of play, Michael Heckley challenged with Karl Richards who fell back and was left in a gashed head after crashing against the nearby wall. This led to furious reactions by the Moors players and after the pushing and shoving calmed down, the referee showed a red card to the unfortunate Heckley, with the tackle looking worse than it was due to the player injury.
Still, Spennymoor rarely threatened the visitors goal and in fact it was West who had the ball in the net only for it to be ruled out four minutes before the break. Scott Nicholson handled the ball into the net whilst backpeddaling, receiving a yellow card for his troubles.
Injury time saw West Auckland again go close on 3 occasions - the first saw Neil Robinson head inches wide from Bryan Stewart's cross, despite being clattered into by the keeper. He picked himself up to race onto Dale Jardine's through ball seconds later but steered his low effort across the face of goal before Jardine himself saw an effort held by Dawson.
Spennymoor came out look to make their one man advantage count in the second - Jamie Clarke's early effort was saved by Wilkinson before a close range header smashed off the underside of the bar and the rebound fired into the side netting.
Neil Robinson came close for West in the 61st minute, meeting Brian Fairhurst's floated free kick on the volley but only sending it into the keepers arms. Danny Richmond run into the box saw his shot blocked for a corner from which 10 man West Auckland took the lead in the 67th minute. Stuart Dawson was beaten to the ball by a West head, sending it to Scott Nicholson who headed home the ball past a defender on the line.
Three minutes later Dawson came out of his goal to clear only sending the ball as far as Danny Key. Key, 35 yards from goal took a touch to set it up on the volley before firing goal wards. However the keeper recovered to clutch the ball and keep Spennymoor in it.
Both sides then had an effort each in a minute - firstly Wilkinson saved a low shot before Bryan Stewart countered by flying up the wing, cutting inside and smashing an effort that could only be parried by Dawson. Garry Barnes latched onto the rebound but was adjudged offside before he had chance to apply a finish.
Spennymoor then managed to snatch an equaliser through problems of West's own making. Brian Fairhurst looked to play the ball back to Wilkinson in goal only for the ball to be too short and picked up by Jamie Clarke who rounded the keeper and slotted home.
In the 81st minute the Moors broke West hearts with a winner - two shots were blocked by Alan Wilkinson but David Mansen forced the ball home to cue home fans delight. Jamie Clarke almost added another in the third minute of stoppage time seeing an effort saved well by Wilkinson, low to his right.
West will rue the sending off and the fact they came so close to a great result at Spennymoor before leaving with nothing as the festive campaign started with an unfortunate defeat.
1. Alan Wilkinson, 2. Michael Heckley, 3. Brian Fairhurst, 4. Scott Nicholson, 5. Kevin Bromley, 6. Stuart Owen, 7. Danny Richmond, 8. Danny Key, 9. Dale Jardine (14. Thomas Louden 72 mins), 10. Neil Robinson (12. Garry Barnes 67 mins), 11. Bryan Stewart
Subs Not Used: Lee Hutton, Richard Smith
Pictures