Match Preview

Attention turns the Mitre Brooks Mileson Memorial League Cup for Newton Aycliffe on Wednesday with a trip to Sam Smith’s Park to take on Newcastle Benfield for a place in the semi-final.

The two sides met just 14 days ago in the Ebac Northern League Division One but neither side could break the deadlock as the tie ended in stalemate.

Aycliffe have won two of their three league matches since then, scoring nine goals in the process. But with a number of players cup tied and still some injury concerns within the squad, Head Coach Colin Stromsoy knows his side will be in for a tough evening on Tyneside.

“It’s a great opportunity for us,” said Stromsoy.

“We’ve worked really hard in the cup. It’s a shame we’ve got a couple of players away and one or two who are cup tied.

“It’s going to be a difficult ask. We’re going to go into the game [at Benfield] as big underdogs. But we’ll go there and like always we’ll give it a really good go.”

Aycliffe welcomed back Adam Burnicle from injury in the win at Penrith on Saturday with Stromsoy delighted at being able to give the striker 70 minutes in Cumbria, having missed his services in the defeat to Hebburn Town.

“I was really happy [with Adam] and we took him off because we thought the game was comfortable so why push it,” said Stromsoy.

“Not only that, but we’ve got one eye on the cup on Wednesday which is going to be tough.

“We tried to give some of the lads minutes who haven’t featured as much lately – I thought Ryan [Redford] did well when he came on, I thought Andre [Ardelean] did well when he came on, Kev Carr had a good game, Nick Green had a very good game.”

Aycliffe had to withstand some heavy pressure from Penrith in the early stages on Saturday, but Stromsoy was satisfied with the way his side dealt with the danger and came away with the three points despite not hitting a desired level of performance.

Speaking of the win at Penrith Stromsoy said: “I think it’s cliché, but we won when we haven’t played well.

“We’ve not played particularly well – not to our general high standards – but we’ve scored four goals away from home, you’ll take a 4-1 away from home. This is a difficult place to come; they’re fighting for their lives.

“The conditions were awful but they were out of the blocks far quicker than we were and better acquitted than we were. Yeah they were with the wind but that was unlike us, we’re usually better than that, it’s usually us on the front foot.

“But other than a half chance in the first 15 minutes they didn’t really create anything and I thought after that we were very, very good.

“I think our best part of the match was probably the last 15 minutes of the first half – we’ve scored a couple of goals, could have had a couple more. We got the ball down and played.”

It’s the start of another busy week for Aycliffe on Wednesday in the cup as they look to secure a place in the last four of the competition before welcoming Bishop Auckland to the Beaumont Landscapes Stadium in the league on Saturday.

“There’s no let up,” said Stromsoy.

“But I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a really big week for us.”

Kick-off at Sam Smith’s Park (NE6 4NU) is at 19.30 on Wednesday, March 11.