Newton Aycliffe slipped to ninth in the skilltraining Northern League second division with a 1-0 defeat at Marske United.
Having not experienced defeat since the end of April, Aycliffe have had that sinking feeling twice now within four days.
Although a more rounded performance was witnessed at Marske United than was at Seaham, Aycliffe are seemingly in a rut without their main strikers and they quickly need to dispel the myth that without Dan Mellanby, they are an ordinary outfit.

The acquisition of Mark Brischuck to fill the void up front looked a good one, the powerful strikers hold up and link play evident for all to see in the first half but Aycliffe couln't make their dominance pay.

Early in the second half, following the enforced substitution of Paul Stout through injury, Aycliffe's re-shuffled pack fell behind. Carl Chillingsworth the benefactor of some indecision between goalkeeper and defence as he nodded into an empty net.

Aycliffe, try as they might, couldn't unlock a physical back-four, and despite introducing Elliot Garnder for the final quarter, failed to find the net for the first time this season.

John Close, despite some heavy knocks early on from the aggressive front two of Marske, completed his first 90 minutes of the season, and with Gardner blowing the cobwebs off, and Mark Wood's return to the side, Aycliffe should line up that bit stronger again on Saturday.

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