Tag: Ashington

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Consett suffer semi-final heartache at Ashington – and a double blow to their play-off hopes

A brave second-half comeback by 10-man Consett came to nothing tonight when they were beaten 4-3 at Ashington in the semi-final of the Division One Cup.

Trailing 3-1 at half-time, they got the score back to 3-3 despite having Calvin Smith sent off, and were within six minutes of taking the tie to a penalty shoot-out.

But they shot themselves in the foot by conceding a poor goal straight from the restart, and had Darren Holden sent off after the final whistle.

The red cards means Smith and Holden will both be suspended from the one-off promotion play-off on Saturday 30 April, leaving manager Andy Coyles with an almighty headache and a severely-depleted squad.

Ashington took the lead after just five minutes, when Kyle Hayes fumbled a corner and big centre-back Ben Harmison bundled the ball home from point-blank range.

Three minutes later the Steelmen were level, after David Dowson’s knockdown to Carl Lawson, who fired in off the post to make it 1-1.

Hayes saved well from Robert-Lee Taylor on 19 minutes, but there was nothing he could do two minutes later when Lawson lost his man and Jordan Summerly finished low past the keeper for 2-1.

Lawson almost grabbed a second equaliser a minute later, but saw his shot cleared off the line by a defender, and the visitors were made to pay on 24 minutes when Ashington scored again.

Smith gave the ball away as Consett passed their way out from the back, and the Colliers’ top scorer Dean Briggs drove at the makeshift defence to fire past Hayes and make it 3-1.

Colin Larkin went close to reducing the arrears five minutes before half-time when he chested the ball down 25 yards out and fired into the side netting, but it was a second-best Consett team who headed into the dressing rooms at the break.

Ashington were backed by a vociferous crowd who were appealing for every decision, real and otherwise, and they demanded a red card for a Jake Orrell foul on 55 minutes, but the referee decided yellow was sufficient.

Three minutes later they got their wish when Calvin Smith was shown a straight red card for a challenge which many onlookers thought had won the ball.

Consett now had a mountain to climb, but bringing on strikers Scott Heslop and Dale Pearson for David Dowson and Luke Carr injected fresh energy into their attacking play.

They were indebted to Hayes for keeping them in the game on 65 minutes with a superb double save, but on 73 minutes they were right back in it when Scott Heslop bulleted in a header from Orrell’s corner.

On 83 minutes Consett’s endeavours were rewarded when home right-back Liam Doyle wrestled Pearson to the ground, pictured top, and the referee awarded a penalty, which was despatched by Colin Larkin to make it 3-3.

Incredibly, within 60 seconds Consett’s fightback was in vain when, straight from the kick off, they failed to deal with a surging run from the halfway line, and when the ball fell to ex-Steelman Dean Briggs he fired home what turned out to be the winner.

If such late heartache wasn’t bad enough, Holden – Consett’s only fit defender – was red-carded after the final whistle for something he said to the referee, which rules him out of the promotion play-off.

With almost an entire XI currently unavailable, the Steelmen’s chances of playing in the Northern Premier League next season appear to be receding rapidly.

But before the one-off away game against as-yet unknown opponents there’s the small matter of completing our Northern League fixtures this Saturday, with a home game against Ashington, kick-off 3pm.

  • Full match report, stats and more pictures to follow.

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Consett come from behind twice to beat West Auckland and line up semi-final trip to Ashington

An injury-time goal from veteran striker Colin Larkin gave Consett’s season a much-needed lift tonight as they twice came from behind to secure a cup semi-final place by beating West Auckland Town 3-2.

Andy Coyles’ side put in their best performance for weeks against the same visitors who they had ground out a 1-0 win over in the league seven days earlier.

The result means Consett travel to Ashington for a Division One Cup semi-final on Tuesday 12 April – four days before they complete their league fixtures with a game against the same opponents at Belle View Stadium.

Consett were the better side in the first half, and it was against the run of play that West Auckland took the lead on 38 minutes, as Ross Wilkinson headed the ball into his own net under challenge from Gary Brown as they contested a free-kick.

A minute later Consett were level, from another set play. Jake Orrell played the ball in from the right, Wilkinson did well to keep it alive in a melee of bodies, and Alex Francis fired home from close range against one of his old clubs, pictured below.

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Alex Francis makes it 1-1 in a goalmouth scramble. Pic: Gary Welford.

However, parity lasted just three minutes, as Francis went from goalscoring hero to villain, tripping Jordan Blinco to gift West a penalty, which Arron Thompson converted.

It remained 2-1 at half-time, but Consett, whose football was much more fluid than in recent weeks, were back on the front foot right from the start of the second half, creating chance after chance.

Dan Marriott fired just wide, David Dowson had a shot cleared off the line after the keeper dropped a corner, and Orrell’s 20-yard free-kick hit the post as the Steelmen poured forward.

The pressure was rewarded on 65 minutes when Luke Carr’s excellent pass picked out Calvin Smith‘s run to the back post, and he tucked the ball under the keeper to make it 2-2, pictured below.

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Calvin Smith finishes under the keeper to make it 2-2. Pic: Gary Welford.

There was a let-off for Consett in the 69th minute as West’s top scorer Blinco failed to convert from close range, but just as the game looked like it was heading for penalties there was one final twist.

In the first of three minutes of added time, Orrell’s corner from the right caused chaos in the West box, and Colin Larkin pounced on the loose ball, turned and fired home his 16th goal of the season to take Consett through.

It was just reward for a fine team performance, where every player showed their battling qualities against tough opponents, as well as playing their best passing game for quite some time.

  • Full match report, stats and more pictures to follow.

Consett have to settle for a point from six-goal thriller at Ashington

League leaders Consett had to settle for a point on their travels, after a thrilling 3-3 draw at Ashington.

The Colliers dominated the first half, but had to dig deep to twice come from behind in front of a bumper 735 crowd – including a big Consett contingent – at the DWMedia Stadium.

Visiting keeper Kyle Hayes had already made two good saves and Ashington had also hit the bar before the hosts took the lead in the 28th minute.

Max Cowburn put in a great first-time cross from the right and Craig Spooner made it 1-0 with a close-range header.

Consett skipper Arjun Purewal almost equalised on 36 minutes when he hit the post with a header, and then saw keeper Adam McHugh make an unbelievable point-blank save, pictured top, as he tried to lash home the rebound.

The Steelmen were level a minute later when the resulting corner was half-cleared, and young centre-back James Metcalfe fired in off the post from just outside the box.

It remained 1-1 at half-time, but it took only two minutes of the second half for Consett to get their noses in frnt.

Luke Carr’s pass sent Jake Orrell scampering towards the byline, and his low cross across the six-yard box was turned into his own net by helpless defender Curtis Coppen.

Hayes made two more fine saves to keep Consett in front, but feel he could have done better when Ashington made it 2-2 on the hour.

He failed to deal with a cross from the right, and it was sent back across goal for Harmison, for Luke Salmon to score with a close-range volley.

Hayes made amends with a superb double save from Adam Johnson, and there were more chances at both ends, with both teams going for the win.

Consett thought they’d grabbed a winner in the 81st minute when Darren Holden’s excellent cross from the left put a 14th goal of the season on a plate for Dale Pearson, in his first game back from suspension.

But Ashington had other ideas, and made it 3-3 in the 86th minute, when Danny Anderson scored from close range.

With two minutes to go Consett had a big penalty shout turned down when a defender appeared to handle the ball on the ground, but a point apiece was probably the right result.

  • Full match report, stats and more pictures to follow.

Penrith and Ashington games are OFF as Northern League delays its restart – but our cup ties go ahead

Consett’s next two Northern League games, against Penrith and Ashington, have been postponed after the league management committee decided to delay the restart of fixtures.

However, this Saturday’s FA Vase 3rd Round tie v West Auckland Town is unaffected, and will go ahead as planned, with a 3pm kick-off at Belle View Stadium. The game is now sold out and no admission will be available on the day.

Our away Durham Challenge Cup tie at Birtley Town, which was postponed this week, has been rearranged for Wednesday, December 23, KO 7.30pm.

The decision to delay the restart of league fixtures follows a meeting of the league management committee (LMC) to discuss club responses to the Government’s changes to Tier 3 restrictions, which allow up to 150 spectators to attend fixtures, but means clubhouses must remain closed.

A number of clubs were prepared to resume fixtures from Saturday December 19, but some have been told by their local councils that they are not permitted to sell refreshments.

The majority had already indicated it isn’t financially viable to play games with attendances pegged at 150, and with no income from food and drink, they would still have significant levels of expenditure, with no grants available to cover any deficit.

Some clubs felt a change to Tier 2 restrictions allowing attendances to rise to 300 could allow a return, but the LMC decided to postpone this weekend’s fixtures even before today’s decision to leave the North East in Tier 3.

The situation will be reviewed again by the LMC on Monday, January 4, with a possible resumption date of Saturday, January 9.

A LMC spokesman said: “The committee fully understands and shares the frustration at the situation we find ourselves in, and we are grateful for the patience of officials, volunteers, players and spectators.

“In the meantime we will be writing to all the relevant local authorities to see if they are willing to address the issue of the sale of refreshments at grounds in their area, as this provides such crucial revenue for clubs.”

Our game at Penrith was due to take place on Monday, December 28, and the home game v Ashington on Saturday, January 2. New dates will be set by the league in due course.

At the moment our next scheduled league game is on Saturday, January 9, when we are due to entertain Seaham Red Star. However, at the moment both clubs are still involved in the FA Vase, and the next round is due to be played on that date.

On this day: 26 November 2008 – Emmo’s hot streak continues as Consett beat Ashington

Consett increased their lead at the top of the Northern League table to seven points on this day in 2008, with a comfortable win over Ashington in a midweek match at Belle Vue Park.

Continue reading “On this day: 26 November 2008 – Emmo’s hot streak continues as Consett beat Ashington” →

On this day: 14 November 2009 – 10-man Consett pull off a fine win at Ashington despite being missing half a team

A Consett side missing five regulars pulled off an excellent win at the home of the Northern League’s third-placed side, despite being reduced to 10 men, on this day in 2009.

As well as long-term absentees David Gordon and David Duke, manager Kenny Lindoe was unable to call on injured skipper Carl Piecha, or the unavailable Chris Scott or Jonjo Dickman for the Northern League 1st Division game at Woodhorn Lane.

He still fielded a strong starting XI, with three changes from the previous game, a 2-2 draw with Morpeth. Goalkeeper Danny Staples had served his suspension for being sent off against Bishop Auckland the previous month, David Scorer was restored at centre-half, and Andrew Burton returned at left-back, though the bench was a little thin.

With just a couple of minutes gone, some excellent interplay down the left by Mattie Moffat and David Pounder saw Prof’s delicious touch wrongfoot a defender and put Steven Johnson through. But Stevie delayed for just long enough for the Colliers to regroup and prevent him getting a shot away.

Consett’s David Pounder in action against Ashington. Pic: John Paul Hardy.

A quick throw-in by Steven Huggins to Pounder gave the Steelmen another opportunity when he found stand-in skipper Gary Ormston, whose ball to Moffat was cracked just over the bar.

After some tentative opening exchanges, it took 15 minutes for either side to seriously trouble the other’s goal, and when it came it was Ashington who came within a whisker of opening the scoring. They broke down the right, and a ball pinged to the back post saw Keith Douglas connect sweetly with the ball at full stretch, only to see his shot cannon off the crossbar, with the goalkeeper beaten.

Moffat tried his luck from 25 yards after winning the ball from the centre-half, but, to the jeers of the vociferous home fans, it flew high and wide.

A Steven Huggins corner caused some mild panic in the Ashington box after keeper Karl Dryden came for it, flapped and missed, but Johnson was unable to take advantage, and the danger was cleared.

Consett striker Steven Johnson had this chance after Ashington keeper Karl Dryden missed a cross. Pic: John Paul Hardy.

Scorer headed over from a corner and Johnson was unable to pick anyone out with a hard, low cross across the face of the goal after Moffat and Ormston combined well, as Consett began to take control.

They really should have scored when they were awarded a free-kick for a foul on Ormston as he surged towards the box. Burton took the kick quickly after spotting Moffat making a run to the back post, but the striker couldn’t keep his shot from six yards down.

On the stroke of half-time Moffat had an even better chance when Ashington only half-cleared a corner, and Pounder lobbed the ball back into the danger area. It was kept alive by Ormston, and Moffat found himself with a free header from six yards out, which he put straight at Dryden.

Half-time: Ashington 0 Consett 0

Within two minutes of the restart Moffat had another chance, latching onto a loose ball and trying to prod it home when power would surely have produced a goal. Moffat put in another good shift, and on another day, with a few more games under his belt, would have had a hat-trick.

Consett striker Mattie Moffat was a constant threat to Ashington. Pic: John Paul Hardy.

Andrew Cuthbertson then placed a shot agonisingly wide of the right-hand post after a flowing Consett move. But when the deadlock was broken on 51 minutes it was Ashington who scored, completely against the run of play.

Former Consett winger David Colvin advanced down the left and sent in a hard, low cross, which was met a few yards out by Andrew Burton. Unfortunately, the pace on the ball was such that he was unable to steer it away from goal, and only succeeded in putting through his own net.

Four minutes later things went from bad to worse for the Steelmen. Centre-back Paul Collins handled a through ball 25 yards out, and the referee decided he had prevented a goalscoring opportunity, and showed him a straight red card, which seemed a little harsh to say the least.

Most of the travelling supporters probably feared the worst, but after a reshuffle which saw Burton go to right-back, Michael Coulthard come into the middle and Pounder drop to left-back, Consett took the game by the scruff of the neck.

Unlucky Consett defender Andrew Burton scored an own goal to put Ashington ahead. Pic: John Paul Hardy.

On 58 minutes captain-for-the-day Gary Ormston capped an industrious display by heading home Huggins’ corner from six yards out, taking him to 10 goals for the season.

And on 67 minutes Steven Huggins put Consett in front with a superb free-kick curled over the wall from just outside the box after the referee had somewhat generously decided that Moffat was impeded.

With something to hold onto, Lindoe withdrew Johnson and brought Gavin Parkin on to shore up the midfield, but it was still the Steelmen who looked more likely to get the next goal.

Another foul on Moffat just outside the box gave Huggins a free-kick in a similar position to the one he scored from, but this time the keeper comfortably caught his effort round the wall, low to his left. And Parkin came close to opening his account for the club with a rising shot from 20 yards which just cleared the bar.

Skipper Gary Ormston just fails to connect with this cross. Pic: John Paul Hardy.

In the 86th minute, the referee could quite easily have made it 10-a-side when Colliers defender Iain Nickalls pulled back Moffat after the forward knocked the ball past him on the halfway line, but he chose to show a yellow card instead of red.

Tremendous last-ditch tackles by Nickalls and Paul Dunn then halted Moffat as through balls twice left him one-on-one with the last defender as Consett looked for a clincher.

Ashington rarely threatened in the second half, though one ball flashed across the face of goal by substitute Josh Race had Staples scrambling, and the keeper then had to be at his best to keep out a powerful injury-time drive from the same player.

Consett keeper Dan Staples comes to collect under pressure. Pic: John Paul Hardy.

The game ended controversially, when Burton needed lengthy treatment and had to be substituted after being knocked out by what appeared to be a flailing elbow, but again the referee only showed Scott Blandford a yellow card when the offence might have merited a different colour.

When the final whistle went it was a fully deserved three points against a side who were just starting to believe they had an outside chance of the championship, and would eventually go on to finish 6th – their best in 29 years.

Consett bring home three points after winging it at Ashington

A much-improved performance saw Consett return to winning ways today when they headed home from Ashington with three points after a convincing 3-0 victory.

Matty Slocombe’s return to the starting line-up for the first time in 12 games gave the Steelmen a much more solid look, and they took the game to their hosts with an attacking 3-5-2 line-up, with Jermaine Metz and Darren Holden as wing-backs, and midfielder Calvin Smith as part of a back three!

Ashington almost took the lead on seven minutes when Lee Scott hit the post, but Consett got the breakthrough on 22 minutes when Luke Carr’s through ball sent Dale Pearson clear, and he fired home from just inside the box, pictured top.

Two minutes later the lead was doubled when Darren Holden hit a speculative effort from the angle of the penalty area, and it ended up in the far corner. Cross or shot? Consett didn’t care, it was 2-0.

On 32 minutes it was almost three when Jake Orrell’s cross picked up Slocombe, whose diving header brought a good save from Ashington keeper Adam McHugh.

Consett enjoyed a stroke of luck on 35 minutes when Ashington hit the post for a second time, this time through Jack Butler, but the game swayed heavily in their direction when the Colliers were reduced to 10 men.

Pearson ran onto a similar pass to the one which had brought his goal, and went down under a challenge from Thomas Bramley. Ashington thought he got the ball, the referee judged otherwise, and showed the centre-back a straight red card.

To add insult to injury Consett almost scored from the resulting free-kick, but McHugh made a good save from Matty Cornish.

Ashington made a double substitution for the second half in a bid to salvage something from the game, but Consett went straight at their opponents from the off, and could have extended their lead just a minute in when Carr’s shot was saved and Pearson put the rebound wide with the goal gaping.

He made no such mistake in the 49th minute when excellent work by Cornish and Holden down the left saw the latter pick out Dale Pearson 10 yards out, and he fired home left-footed for 3-0.

On 56 minutes Pearson could have had a hat-trick after McHugh made a fantastic reaction save to prevent Luke Salmon putting through his own goal, but the No 9 put his follow-up header wide.

McHugh made good saves from Carr and Holden as Consett sought a fourth, while Kyle Hayes maintained his clean sheet by preventing a corner from Ashington’s new signing Paul Robinson from going straight in.

Ali Alshabeeb and Carl Lawson both had chances to add to the scoreline as Consett finished the game on top, but they were more than satisfied with three goals and a clean sheet.

  • Full match report and more pictures to follow.

Ashington v Consett: How to get tickets for the Colliers v Steelmen clash

Tickets go on sale today for our next away game, the visit to Ashington’s DW Media Stadium at 3pm on Saturday, 24 October.

Due to the number of season ticket holders the Colliers have, only a very limited number of places will be available for the Northern League Division One clash.

They go on sale at 10am to home and away supporters from Ashington’s online ticketing site HERE. There is no separate allocation for Consett fans.

Single tickets are available on a first-come, first-served basis. Once they are gone, there will be no further availability and there will be no pay on the day admission available.

The good news for any supporters who miss out is that a live stream of the game will be available. Further details will be released next week.

Ashington have been the surprise package of the season so far, and currently sit in 6th place, four points and four places above Consett.

Their top scorer with 11 goals in all competitions is midfielder Dean Briggs, who spent part of last season with Consett, while lanky striker Ben Harmison has six and Max Cowburn four.

Last season’s game at Woodhorn Lane didn’t take place due to the oronavirus pandemic, so our most recent visit was in August 2018, when we won 3-2, with two goals from Luke Carr and one from Danny Craggs.

On this day in our history: 10 April 2010 – honours even in an end-of-season meeting with Ashington

There was a distinct end-of-season feel about the game the last time Consett played on this date, back in 2010.

They faced Ashington at the old Belle Vue Park ground on a beautiful day for football, and two sides with nothing tangible to play for drew 1-1 – a fair result on a fairly uneventful afternoon.

Young goalkeeper Sam Grieveson made his debut for Consett, and another recent signing, Sean Best, was on the bench. Midfield stalwarts Gary Ormston and David Pounder were both absent, forcing Jonjo Dickman and Gavin Parkin into unfamiliar wide roles, while Chris Scott stepped in at right-back.

Young goalkeeper Sam Grieveson made his Consett debut.

Ashington skipper James Harmison was cheered on by his famous cricketing brothers Ben and Steve, and the Colliers included two players who would become Steelmen at a later date, midfielder Scott Blandford and winger David Colvin, who came on as a sub.

The game started at a snail’s pace, and while Consett registered fairly harmless long-range efforts from Bates and Parkin, Ashington didn’t manage to trouble debutant Grieveson at all in the opening stages.

Things did burst into life in the 20th minute when fantastic work down the right-hand side from Huggins and Bates found Gavin Parkin all on his own six yards out. However, his firm effort was acrobatically cleared on the line by an Ashington defender.

Gavin Parkin’s effort was cleared off the line.

Amazingly, within seconds visiting centre forward Keith Douglas found himself clean through on goal, and while he comfortably beat Grieveson, the post came to Consett’s rescue.

Five minutes later Douglas looked as though he might get a chance to make amends with an identical chance, but Grieveson was smartly off his line to clear before the Ashington man could get the ball under control.

The game was returning to its initial sluggish pace when Consett broke the deadlock on 30 minutes. Good work from Dickman found Brian Dodsworth on the edge of the penalty area, and the No 10 expertly guided the ball into the bottom-left corner with the outside of his right foot. It was a goal worthy of a better game, as was the celebration – a double somersault!

Jonjo Dickman set up Consett’s goal for Brian Dodsworth.

Half-time arrived with little further action, and The Steelmen one goal to the good.

Sadly for the home team the second half got off to a quicker start, and Ashington were level on 50 minutes. Chris Scott was the unfortunate victim of a horrific bobble on the edge of his own area, and this allowed Douglas to chip in expertly from 12 yards. It was the game’s second excellent finish.

The visitors were controlling the game more at this point, with Andrew Johnson in particular causing problems down the right-hand side, and on 57 minutes Grieveson made his first meaningful save when he was smartly down low to his right to deny a drive from the lively Douglas.

The game petered out somewhat in the last 30 minutes, and while Ashington had the better of possession, they never really looked like capitalising on it, apart from a goalmouth scramble following a corner in the 76th minute. For Consett, Guy Bates was holding the ball up well, but he was very much fighting a lone battle, with support in short supply.

Guy Bates held the ball up well for Consett but lacked support.

The final meaningful effort came in the 90th minute when Steven Huggins fired narrowly wide from 20 yards, but a game which had an element of ‘end of season’ about it ended in a fair 1-1 draw.

Ashington went on to finish 6th – their best league position in 30 years – while Consett were a disappointing 10th. It was the signal for a summer clearout which would see only a handful of these players remain at the club the following season, when the Steelmen would again emerge as title contenders.

Consett: 1 Sam Grieveson, 2 Chris Scott, 3 John Ewart (sub Sean Best), 4 Andrew Cuthbertson, 5 Graham Irving, 6 Carl Piecha, 7 Jonjo Dickman, 8 Steven Huggins, 9 Guy Bates, 10 Brian Dodsworth, 11 Gavin Parkin (sub Paul Henderson-Reay). Subs not used: Moore, Curry, Nolan.
Ashington: Dryden, Houlsby, Walmsley, Carr, Atkin, Harmison, Johnson, Blandford (O’Rea), Douglas, Taylor (Colvin), Baptist. Subs not used: Nickalls, Dunn.