Match Preview

Aycliffe looking to bounce back

Newton Aycliffe make their longest trip of the season as they visit Penrith on Saturday looking to bounce back from the mid-week defeat to Hebburn Town.

Aycliffe will make the 64-mile journey across the country to the Frenchfield Stadium for their second game of a gruelling March schedule as they look to get back to winning ways after a disappointing 4-1 reverse on Tuesday.

Despite the 11-point gap to Hebburn in third, Head Coach Colin Stromsoy is remaining upbeat about his side’s season.

“It was hugely disappointing and it puts us massively back,” he said of the defeat in mid-week.

“You do what the opposition don’t want you to do in football, but we played into their hands in the first half.

“[But] we’ve still got time. There’s going to be more dramas between now and the end of the season.”

Aycliffe travel to a Penrtih side languishing towards the bottom of the table having lost their last four games, including last week’s 1-0 defeat at Whickham.

Aycliffe got the better of the two sides in the reverse fixture at the Beaumont Landscapes Stadium when a Dean Thexton hat-trick helped Stromsoy’s side to a 4-0 win.

The Bonny Blues have managed just five wins all season and have the worst goal difference in the Ebac Northern League Division One but Stromsoy is keen to ensure his side don’t take them lightly.

“It’s a busy period for us and we’re going to be stretched,” he said.

“They’ll come and have a go at us and we’ll need to be ready.”

There are still fitness concerns over striker Adam Burnicle and full back Lewis Walton who both missed the defeat to Hebburn after injuries sustained at West Auckland last weekend.

And Stromsoy is doubtful the pair will make their return at Penrith.

“I think it’s highly unlikely, unfortunately, but at the end of the day that’s football,” he said.

“The challenge we’ve got now because of the weather is all of the back-to-backs and with the size of our squad this is where we struggle.

“It’s harder to cope with injuries because we haven’t got the depth. But the guys that have come in have stepped up. Kev’s [Carr] come on and done fantastically well and so has Johnson [Ballan], we’ve still got Ryan [Redford] to come back in and Ryan Coles who are really good players.

“We’ll go to Penrith and we’ll still have a good squad and we’ll have a right good go. We’ll do that for the remainder of the season in all the games we’ve got. We’ve got nothing to lose. We can only control the things we can control.”

Kick off on Saturday at the Frenchfield Stadium (CA11 8UA) is 15.00