Newton Aycliffe FC v Jarrow Roofing

By Paul McGeary
Newton Aycliffe recorded their fifth straight victory – their fourth in the league – with a flattering 5-3 home win against 16th-placed Jarrow Roofing.
The moustachioed musketeers found themselves behind to an early Tony Thirkell strike but first half goals from Elliot Gardner and Josh Knox amended the arrears.
The game was all-but-won in 10 second half minutes, as Dale Jardine added his sixth goal since joining the club before Gardner grabbed two more to complete his hat-trick, taking him past 50 goals for the club since its Northern League inception.
Two penalties from the ever-threatening Kris Hughes gave the visitors hope but the game petered out in the late-Autumn chill as Aycliffe moved to within seven points of leaders West Auckland.
Hughes gave the hosts an early sign of the tough evening they were in for when he skipped past two challenges with the game barely three minutes old before squaring for the unmarked Thirkell to slam home at the back post.
A shell-shocked Aycliffe could have been forgiven for thinking this was to be another case of de-ja-vu, as the bottom-six Roofers looked to emulate what South Shields and Penrith did just four weeks ago at Moore Lane Park.
However, Gardner got his side level with 27 minutes gone when he followed up Jardine’s header after it had come back into play off the face off the crossbar.
Knox powered home his second goal of the campaign four minutes later when Roofing failed to deal with Stuart Owen’s corner, although a hefty deflection in the area may have been the deciding factor in deceiving former Darlington ‘keeper Nick Liversedge in the visiting goal.
There were a couple of half chances at either end in the run up to the interval, with Roofing’s Liam Robinson and Aycliffe skipper Sean Tarling both seeing long range efforts creep just past the uprights.
The game swung towards Allan Oliver’s side in the opening 10 minutes of the second period when three Aycliffe goals should have seen their opponents off.
Gardner played Jardine through for the former West Auckland man to beat Liversedge to the ball to steer home and after Jardine himself was fouled in the area, Gardner coolly sent Liversedge the wrong way from the spot.
Gardner saved his best for last, when he outstripped his marker to Jardine’s pass, before superbly firing in off the post from 20-yards to record his hat-trick.
With many thinking Jarrow would further capitulate, Hughes had other ideas and after a searching run into the Aycliffe area on 61 minutes, he was brought down before despatching the resultant penalty, despite Scott Pocklington correctly guessing the direction.
Then with 16 minutes remaining, Hughes again was presented with a chance from 12-yards after a foul on Anthony Myers, and in expert fashion, he found Pocklington’s top corner with ease.
Aycliffe stemmed the comeback from there but their defensive lapses will have given boss Oliver a cause for concern with Spennymoor and Sunderland RCA on the horizon in the coming weeks.
Star Man
Elliot Gardner – Clinical!