Report

Consett exited the FA Trophy in the second qualifying round as they were defeated 1-0 by Northern Premier League Division One West side Colne.

A poor first half performance from the visitors saw the home side take the lead through Owen Watkinson, and it proved to be the only goal of the game.

The Steelmen improved after the break but couldn’t fashion an equaliser and the Lancashire side progressed to the next round.

Consett manager Andy Coyles made one change from the game at Lincoln, with Lewis Green coming in for Declan Bisset, while striker Oscar Taylor, a new signing from Newton Aycliffe, made the bench.

Colne’s Holt House ground has a pronounced slope and it was the home side who had the advantage of kicking downhill in the first half. It told as they controlled most of the early possession, with Consett struggling to get up the pitch.

Despite the territorial advantage Consett were defending comfortably until the 15th minute, when they didn’t deal with an attack down their left. Full-back Tom Fagan made good progress into the penalty area and his ball found centre forward Owen Watkinson, who had the time to steady himself and shoot across Mark Foden from 10 yards, giving the keeper no chance.

The Colne goalscorer had a half chance to double the advantage on 22 minutes, but scuffed his effort from the edge of the area, and Foden was able to make a fairly routine save.

The Steelmen threatened for the first time on 24 minutes as Cyril Giraud picked the ball up just inside the opposition’s half and did well to beat two men before finding Green, who saw his cut-back intercepted at the last moment to deny Jake Orrell a tap-in.

On the half hour Foden had to be alert again to deny left winger Tom McCann who hit a good effort after cutting inside from out wide.

That was it for any goalmouth action and the half played out with Consett still struggling to get a solid foothold in the game against organised opposition.

However, there was an injury worry just before the break as Adam Mitchell went down with what looked to be a nasty injury and had to be replaced by Declan Bisset.

Half-time: Colne 1 Consett 0

As the second half began the hope was that kicking downhill would make a difference and it certainly did, as Consett were instantly enjoying more of the ball in comparison to the first period.

However, it was Colne who almost scored in the 58th minute as Craig Carney hit an excellent shot from 25 yards that rattled the crossbar.

Undeterred, The Steelmen continued to push forward and they saw their best chance of an equaliser come on 62 minutes. Playmaker Orrell swung in a corner from the left which Zak Atkinson met with a firm header that was destined for the bottom-right corner, only for home keeper Andre Mendes to somehow claw the ball off the line. There was nothing more Atkinson could have done with the header and it was a truly wonderful save.

Another chance arrived on 69 minutes as Darren Holden looked certain to score from only six yards out after excellent work from Byrne and Orrell, however his goalbound effort was superbly blocked by home skipper Paul Dugdale.

In an attempt to fashion an equaliser, Consett threw on Taylor for his debut and in a final throw of the dice, big centre-back Ben Milburn was sent on in the 90th minute to play up front. The ploy almost worked as Milburn nearly scored with his first touch as he met a long throw in from Holden at the far post, only to see his effort cleared off the line by Colne sub Charlie Russell.

There was five minutes of added time, but despite the increasingly frantic efforts of the visitors it was destined not to be their day and it was Colne who advanced. For Consett, they will have to focus on the league and the Durham Challenge Cup.
MATCH REPORT: ANDY BALL

PICTURES: ANDY MITCHELL PHOTOS (Visit his website HERE).

ATTENDANCE: 269.