Aycliffe downed after first half blitz

Match report by Joe Ramage

Newton Aycliffe suffered a heavy defeat at home to FA Vase semi-finalists Hebburn Town as they were beaten 4-1 at the Beaumont Landscapes Stadium on Tuesday evening.
The Hornets scored four unanswered first half goals with a hat-trick from Michael Richardson and a fourth from Cedwyn Scott leaving Aycliffe with a mountain to climb.
Liam Jarvie managed to pull one back for the hosts early in the second half before Andre-Vasile Ardelean failed to convert from the penalty spot as Hebburn ran out comfortable winners.
Colin Stromsoy made two enforced changes to the side that won 4-0 at West Auckland on Saturday with the injured duo of Adam Burnicle and Lewis Walton remaining sidelined.
Ethan Wood regained his spot in the starting eleven with Nicholas Green filling in at left back as Stromsoy tinkered with his formation, conscious of the threat posed by the away side.
Hebburn arrived in the game on the crest of a wave having beaten Plymouth Parkway in the quarter-final of the FA Vase on Saturday and they expressed their confidence in the early stages with winger Oliver Martin and full back Darren Lough looking dangerous down Aycliffe’s right.
With little in the way of goalmouth action in the opening 10 minutes Aycliffe endeavoured to get a foothold in what was becoming a scrappy affair.
But 16 minutes in and the away side were in front after Richardson expertly controlled a drilled pass from winger Thomas Potter following Jake Petijean’s misplaced pass.
The former South Shields man escaped Aaron Brown and was able to lift it over the on-rushing Adam Pickford to give the Tyneside club the lead.
12 minutes later and the away side doubled their advantage after Pickford failed to gather a routine cross from Potter and instead spilled it to Richardson who couldn’t believe his luck as he prodded the ball into the empty net.
Newton Aycliffe 1-4 Hebburn Town, Ebac Northern League Division One, The Beaumont Landscapes Stadium, Tuesday 3 March.
Things got worse for Aycliffe seven minutes later as Richardson completed a 19 minute hat-trick with the pick of the bunch as he capped a free-flowing move down the left-hand-side involving Martin, Lough and Scott before Richardson opened his body to place a curling effort into the far corner of the net.
It was a 45 minutes to forget for the home side as FA Vase hero Scott added a fourth on the stroke of half time after he spun Aidan McGee from a deep throw-in before rifling a half volley beyond Pickford from the edge of the area.
With the game seemingly over, Stromsoy made a double change at the break bringing on Johnson Ballan and Kevin Carr for Wood and Alex Barnes as he reverted to a more familiar formation.
The changes had the desired impact as within minutes of the restart Aycliffe had the perfect response to their disappointing first half.
Jarvie was sent clear inside of Lough and made no mistake in sending the ball past Mark Foden to give those inside the Beaumont Landscapes Stadium a glimmer of hope.
Jarive might have added a second two minutes later after good work from Brown and Marc Costello allowed the winger time in the penalty area but his effort was diverted wide.
Suddenly there were blue shirts getting forward and Hebburn’s backline were having to work for the first time in the evening as Costello’s volley went over the bar.
Connor Phelan and Martin had a coming together as tempers began to flare before Scott was given a yellow card for an incident with McGee.
As time ticked away Aycliffe battled hard to make the game closer and should have been rewarded in the 77th minute when Jarvie earned his side a penalty having chased down a clearance from Louis Storey before being bundled over in the area.
Ardelean stepped up to take the spot kick but his effort was easily met by Foden down to his left in The Hornets goal summing up Aycliffe’s night.
Ballan fired a snapshot just wide of Foden’s post with five minutes remaining while Carr’s long range effort in stoppage time brought out a good save from the Hebburn goalkeeper.
It was a tough night for Aycliffe who were unable to repair the damage done in the first half.