Report

Consett got their Northern League Division One campaign off to a great start with a thumping 6-2 win at Seaham Red Star, with six different players on the scoresheet.

The Ferguson Motor Repairs Stadium hasn’t always been a happy hunting ground for the Steelmen, but they made light of that with a powerful display which blew their hosts away.

Indeed it’s fair to say Terry Mitchell’s rampant side could easily have doubled their tally, as they missed at least another half a dozen good chances.

They opened the scoring in the 7th minute, when Jake Orrell swing in a free-kick from the left and Simon Jakab met the ball at the front of the six-yard box to head home his first goal for the club.

Dale Pearson almost made it two when he smashed a 25-yarder against the crossbar in the 11th minute, but the Steelmen only had to wait three more minutes for a second goal, as Ross Wilkinson fired home at the back post, pictured top, from another Orrell corner after the keeper dropped the ball.

A moment of sloppiness proved costly for Consett in the 22nd minute, when a backpass fell straight to veteran striker Andrew Johnson, and he rounded Kyle Hayes to halve the deficit.

Half-time: Seaham Red Star 1 Consett 2

Consett – wearing their entire all-blue third kit for the first time – wrapped up the points with three goals in a scintillating 11-minute spell at the start of the second half.

On 50 minutes it was 3-1 when they broke quickly from defending a corner, and the move ended with Carl Lawson laying the ball back to Calvin Smith, who buried it in the bottom corner from 20 yards.

Three minutes later it was 4-1, when, after good work by Ali Alshabeeb down the left, the outstanding Jake Orrell played a one-two with Lawson and finished high into the net.

And on 61 minutes it was 5-1, when a clever dummy by Pearson left Darren Holden to run clear through on goal, and he finished through the keeper’s legs.

Last season’s top scorer Pearson should have made it six in the 74th minute when he latched onto a long ball, but fired into the side netting.

Seaham got a goal back in the 79th minute when Hayes made a good save from a free-kick, but former Consett player Dan Hawkins reacted quickest to prod the ball home from close range.

But within a minute Consett had restored their four-goal advantage with a piece of clinical finishing from Matty Cornish, who slotted home the rebound after the keeper had saved fellow sub Thomas McAloon’s initial effort.

Consett could have scored more, but Seaham keeper Andrew Jennison pulled off the save of the game from a curling Orrell effort, and also denied Michael Mackay as the visitors threatened to run riot.