Newton Aycliffe FC v Hebburn Town

Newton Aycliffe continued their terrific start to 2013 with a 2-1 victory away at Hebburn.
The Newtonians had won two from two before the unofficial winter break, but they carried on where they left off with another victory to move 10 points clear of the drop zone.
Danny Earl notched his 13th goal of the season while the excellent Paul Broom added the second before half-time.
Tony Stephenson set up a nervy finale when he pulled one back with 25 minutes to go, but Aycliffe held on to record their ninth league win of the season – and their seventh in their last 10 outings.
Aycliffe were once again without skipper Sean Tarling, while James Oliver started at right-back with Stephen Gibson returning to the bench after recovering from a hamstring injury.
Scott Pocklnigton was called into action early, saving three times from Stephenson as the Royal Blues repeatedly failed to clear a corner.
But Allan Oliver’s side took an early lead when Earl struck after just four minutes. Tom Hinchley sent a ball through from midfield and the former Billingham Synthonia striker expertly lobbed the on-rushing Dan Regan to put Aycliffe ahead.
With 10-minutes left of the first period, Fred Woodhouse narrowly dragged a shot wide from just inside the area.
A second goal would arrive a minute later. Kris Hughes created himself some space and his shot from the left was well saved by Regan, but Broom got to the rebound first to force home from close range.
Gibson was brought on at half-time and was instantly involved, sending a flighted ball in to Earl, whose effort was cleared off the line by Dan Kirkup.
But Hebburn were growing into the game and former West Bromwich Albion striker Stuart Nicholson let fly with a fierce drive from the edge of the area which was well saved by Pocklington.
But eight minutes later Aycliffe’s goalkeeper was picking the ball out of his net. Nicholson’s free-kick evaded Pocklington’s grasp and Stephenson was on hand to nod into the empty net.
Substitute Alex Benjamin – who has a history of scoring against the Newtonians – came close to an equaliser but his flick from 10-yards was saved well by Pocklington.
With eight-minutes left, Pocklington was shown a yellow card for bringing down Paul Gardiner 25-yards out as the midfielder broke through.
Hebburn called for a card of a different colour but their complaints fell on deaf ears and the Royal Blues comfortably saw out the last 10 minutes to record a vital victory in the bid for survival.