Aycliffe through to Quarter Finals

Report by Andy Macfarlane

⚽️ Ballan 16'
⚽️ Pennal 70'

We go into the draw for the quarter finals of the League Cup following a deserved win in a game played in strong windy conditions.
Our starting XI showed changes from Saturday's 4-0 win less than a mile from tonight's venue, at Sunderland RCA.
We took the lead early in the game when Johnson Ballan received the ball on the edge of the box, cleverly turning his man, and firing into the bottom corner, and we held the one goal lead going into the break.
We made an enforced change around the hour mark with Nick Green coming on to replace Sam Read who sustained a nasty cut just above his eye following an accidental collision when goalkeeper Adam Pickford came out to win a ball into the box. The second substitution was tactical and paid off within seconds. Matthew Pennal replaced Liam Jarvie and got himself on the scoresheet with his first touch. A mix up in the Ryhope defence saw a defensive header played back across their own goal rather than getting cleared and Pennal was on hand to double our lead. Chances were limited following our second goal until five minutes into the six minutes of time added on, mainly for the earlier injury, when our hosts pulled a goal back but it was too little too late and we go into the last 8 of the competition.

Man of the Match was Aaron Brown