hitley bay

Consett beat Whitley Bay to make it three pre-season wins in a row

Consett made it three pre-season wins in a row over Northern League opposition tonight as they beat Whitley Bay 2-0 in their latest friendly.

The Seahorses have recruited well under Nick Grey, who took over as manager midway through last season, but the Steelmen scored a goal in each half to claim the win, and a third successive clean sheet.

Andy Coyles’ side have already beaten Birtley Town 8-0 and Northallerton Town 2-0, after losing 4-2 at Berwick Rangers in their first warm-up game.

Zak Atkinson had already had a goal disallowed for offside when Darren Holden gave Consett the lead on 25 minutes, firing home right-footed, pictured top, after a great through ball by Declan Bisset.

Two minutes before the break Bisset looked certain to get his name on the scoresheet when he met a cross from Dan Marriott, but put his header inches wide.

On 56 minutes Marriott almost doubled Consett’s lead with a deft header from Adam Mitchell’s cross, but Bay keeper Dan Lister clawed the ball away.

But he was powerless to stop the hosts make it 2-0 a minute later, with the roles reversed from the first half, as Holden’s right-wing corner picked out Declan Bisset to head home at the far post to make it 2-0.

The usual rash of substitutions saw the game lose some of its momentum in the second half, but the teams served up an entertaining match for the crowd of 203.

Gary Welford