Newton Aycliffe FC v Celtic Nation

Newton Aycliffe bounced back from the weekend’s disappointment to earn a hard-earned point away at in-form Celtic Nation.
Only Darlington and West Auckland boast better recent form than the Cumbrians but Allan Oliver’s side put in a battling display to come back across the A66 with a point and move eight points clear of the drop zone.
Martin Young’s fourth goal of the season cancelled out James Earl’s first-half penalty in a highly-entertaining game in Carlisle.
Work commitments meant the Royal Blues were without Darren Craddock, James Oliver and Dan Mellanby for the trip. Josh Knox dropped into the defence while Stephen Gibson, Fred Woodhouse and Paul Broom were recalled to the line-up.
Aycliffe enjoyed the better of the early exchanges. Skipper Sean Tarling’s ball over the top released Danny Earl, whose shot was well saved by Nation goalkeeper Dan Lowson .
Danny Lambert went close twice in the first half, first shooting narrowly wide after a good run before firing over following Stuart Owen’s free-kick.
The hosts were a danger at the other end, particularly from set-pieces, and they went ahead just before the half-hour mark from the penalty spot.
A linesman’s flag alerted the referee to a foul in the area, which even surprised the home side’s followers. But James Earl – who had scored a penalty at Moore Lane Park in Nation’s 2-1 win earlier this campaign – ignored the commotion and calmly send the spot-kick into the bottom left corner to give his side the lead.
Aycliffe were almost instantly back on level terms. Broom worked tirelessly down the right and sent in a brilliant cross for Danny Earl but the striker’s effort was superbly saved by Lowson.
Next Pocklington was able to show his talents as he dived down to his right to prevent a second after Steven Skinner prodded goalwards.
Just on half-time Danny Earl went close again after being released down the left but his shot went narrowly wide of the far post.
The Newtonians forced a deserved leveller on the hour mark. Gibson did brilliantly down the right and pulled the ball back from the byline for Martin Young who rolled the ball into the bottom corner.
An end-to-end affair followed, with both sides going close on a number of occasions to a winner. But the game ended all-square, extending the home side’s unbeaten run to eight games while Aycliffe set themselves up nicely ahead of next week’s hectic schedule.