Report

Consett returned to winning ways as they beat near-neighbours Tow Law Town 5-1 at Belle View Stadium in a hastily-arranged pre-season friendly.

The Lawyers stepped in at the 11th hour after our originally scheduled opponents, Newcastle Benfield, pulled out with only a few hours’ notice, saying they were unable to field a side.

And a young visiting side, including several teenagers, acquitted themselves well, despite the final margin of defeat.

It took Consett until the 28th minute to find a way past them, when Arjun Purewal rose highest to head home from Jake Orrell’s left-wing corner, pictured top.

Calvin Smith almost made it two in the 35th minute from Purewal’s cross, but was denied by a superb save from Kyle Seymour in the Tow Law goal.

On 39 minutes the Steelmen did double their lead when an underhit backpass left Wil Shaw in on goal, and he finishing confidently for his third goal of pre-season.

Two minutes into the second half it was 3-0, when half-time substitute Zak Atkinson flicked the ball on to Calvin Smith, who made no mistake from six yards.

Ten minutes later it was 4-0, as Consett recycled possession from a corner, and Orrell’s inch-perfect cross picked out Dan Capewell, who buried a header into the far corner.

Shaw almost made it five when he tried a dinky chip after cutting in from the left, but it bounced on top of the bar and our.

Tow Law’s heads didn’t drop, however, and it took a fine save from Consett keeper Aaron Steavens to deny them a consolation goal on 69 minutes.

A minute later they got their reward for their perseverance when the referee spotted an infringement from the resulting corner, and skipper Brandon Mallaburn made it 4-1 from the spot.

The last goal came with the last kick of the game when Shaw flicked on a long ball for Ben Ramsey to run onto, and finish right-footed past sub keeper James Barron.

CONSETT: 1 Aaron Steavens, 2 Josh Baggs, 3 Arjun Purewal (captain), 4 Jake Orrell (sub Harvey Smith 59), 5 Ryan McKinnon, 6 Dan Capewell, 7 Adam Mitchell (sub Kaleb Young 57), 8 Calvin Smith (sub Matty Slocombe 57), 9 Scott Fenwick (sub Zak Atkinson 46), 10 Wil Shaw, 11 Trialist (sub Ben Ramsey 54).

TOW LAW TOWN: 1 Kyle Seymour, 2 James Carr, 3 Brad Wilson, 4 Brandon Mallaburn (captain), 5 Andrew Hope, 6 Cameron Nicholson, 7 Jack Evans, 8 Adam Lennox, 9 Aaron Willoughby, 10 Kory Whitfield, 11 Alex Carr. Subs: Benjamin Urwin, James Barron (GK), Dan Cummins, Christian Norman, Ryan Cameron, Trialist 1, Trialist 2.

ATTENDANCE: 110.