Report

Consett’s bid to guarantee Northern Premier League football for next season will have to wait after they gave away a winning lead and lost 2-1 at Carlton Town.

The Steelmen got off to a good start and they took the lead after just five minutes when Nathan Greenwood beat the home keeper at his near post from the left angle of the box, pictured above.

Danny Barlow was the width of an upright away from making it 2-0 when his clever lob beat the keeper but came back off the foot of the post in the 15th minute, pictured below.

But things began to unravel when centre-back Dan Capewell suffered a serious facial injury in an aerial challenge and had to go off.

Carlton forced a succession of corners and free-kicks as they put their visitors under a lot of pressure, but Consett defended stoutly, and didn’t give away any clear-cut chances.

The home side were convinced they had scored a minute before half-time, claiming Niall Davie’s inswinging corner had crossed the line before Consett keeper Mark Foden caught the ball, pictured below.

The referee thought otherwise, and Consett reached half-time a goal to the good.

However, that didn’t last long, as two minutes into the second half Carlton levelled. Consett didn’t deal with a ball into the box and Niall Davie turned and fired into the bottom corner to make it 1-1.

The goal spurred Carlton on, and they were unlucky not to take the lead just before the hour when Alex Troke’s free-kick rattled the crossbar, and Consett skipper Arjun Purewal blocked Jared Holmes’s follow-up on the line, pictured below.

Foden saved well with his feet from Aaron O’Connor, but the game swung in Carlton’s favour in the 73rd minute when Consett defender Ben Milburn was sent off after receiving a second yellow card.

The big centre-half’s protestations that a push from behind caused him to handle the ball as he jumped to head a long throw-in fell on deaf ears and the Steelmen were reduced to 10 men.

Centre-forward Alex Troke made no mistake with the resulting penalty, pictured below, putting Carlton firmly in the driving seat with a 2-1 lead.

Niall Hylton, who was sent off when Carlton lost 5-0 at Consett back in August, almost made it 3-1 when his shot came back off the post, and in truth never looked like salvaging a point after a disappointing second-half performance.

Next up for the Steelmen is a home game against promotion-chasing Stockton Town on Easter Monday, with a 3pm kick-off at Belle View.