Report

Consett and Dunston will have to try again to decide who advances to the next round of the FA Cup after a hard-fought 1-1 draw at a windswept Belle View Stadium. The Steelmen went toe to toe with last season’s Northern League champions, and with more clinical finishing could have knocked them out.

Manager Terry Mitchell made one change to the side which won at Newcastle Benfield in midweek, with Jake Stafford coming into midfield, which meant Darren Holden reverting to left-back and David Brown dropping to the bench. Dunston had two ex-Steelmen in their starting XI in the shape of Dan Halliday and Michael Pearson.

Kicking with the wind at their back, Consett strated brightly, and their first chance came on five minutes, when Calvin Smith tried to lob Karl Dryden from the edge of the box, but didn’t get enough on it to trouble the Dunston keeper. A minute later Andrei-Vasile Ardelean played in Ali Alshabeeb, who was left with a one-on-one, but Dryden tipped his effort over the bar.

Dunston had their first sight of goal on 10 minutes when centre-forward Mark Fitzpatrick held off his man and played in Liam Brooks, but Consett keeper Kyle Hayes was alert to the danger and saved with his feet.

Consett were creating more chances, and took the lead against their high-ranked opponents on 14 minutes. Ardelean did well to hold off two men and set up Jermaine Metz for a shooting chance. Dryden saved the full-back’s well-struck effort, but Luke Carr reacted quickest, to fire home the rebound.

Jake Stafford almost doubled the lead on the half-hour after Ardelean flicked on Alshabeeb’s cross, but his curling effort from 20 yards was inches wide, with the keeper nowhere near it.

Smith saw a header scrambled clear, then hit a 22-yard free-kick straight at Dryden as Consett pressed for a second goal, and Carr snatched at a chance which he struck well over the bar, but half-time arrived with the score at 1-0 and the Steelmen well on top.

With the wind strengthening, they knew the second half would be a different matter, but just three minutes in a poor backpass by a Dunston defender let Alshabeeb in, but a poor touch saw the chance to double the lead disappear. Carr also fired a free-kick just wide from 20 yards as Consett looked for a second goal.

Dunston thought they had equalised on 57 minutes when Fitzpatrick had the ball in the net, but after consulting his assistant, the referee ruled out the ‘goal’ for a foul by Luke Page on Consett keeper Hayes, who needed lengthy treatment.

But on the hour it was 1-1 when Fitzpatrick, who was top scorer in the Northern League last season, caught the Consett defence napping and burst through to fire past Hayes.

Either side could have won it after that, with Carr seeing a shot blocked from Holden’s excellent pullback, and sending a diving header agonisingly wide from Smith’s cross, while at the other end Andrew Grant-Soulsby put a towering header just over the bar.

It stayed 1-1, however, and the sides will replay at the UTS Stadium at 7.30pm on Tuesday.
MATCH REPORT & PICTURES: GARY WELFORD

CONSETT: 1 Kyle Hayes, 2 Jermaine Metz, 3 Darren Holden, 4 Matty Slocombe, 5 Arjun Purewal (captain), 6 Simon Jakab, 7 Ali Alshabeeb (sub Nick Allen 66), 8 Calvin Smith, 9 Andrei-Vasile Ardelean, 10 Luke Carr, 11 Jake Stafford (sub Dan Hawkins 81). Subs not used: Ross Wilkinson, Max Russell, Lewis McGeoch, Joe Sloan, David Brown.
DUNSTON: 1 Karl Dryden, 2 Liam Marrs, 3 Dan Halliday (captain), 4 Dan Lowther (sub Callum Elliott 86), 5 Craig Scott, 6 Andrew Grant-Soulsby, 7 Callum Smith (sub Dan Capewell 46), 8 Michael Pearson, 9 Mark Fitzpatrick, 10 Luke Page, 11 Liam Brooks (sub Dessie Da Silva 86). Subs not used: Alex Lawrence, Scott Heslop.
ATTENDANCE: 451