Consett played their first competitive fixture at their new Belle View Stadium on this day in 2013, and marked the occasion with an excellent 2-1 win against Northern League front-runners Spennymoor Town.
Continue reading “On this day: 29 November 2013 – Consett get off to a winning start at their new home by beating Spennymoor”
Consett continued their impressive away form on this day in 2009 with a deserved win at Chester Moor – but they had to come from behind to take the three Northern League Division One points.
Continue reading “On this day: 28 November 2009 – Consett’s fine away form continues as they win at Chester-le-Street”
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”
Michael Mackay’s first-half hat-trick – his second treble of the season – set Consett on the way to a comfortable passage into the 3rd Round of the League Cup on this day in 2011.
But they took their foot off the pedal after cruising into a 4-0 interval lead at Belle Vue Park, and their 2nd Division opponents headed home with some pride restored after refusing to roll over, and making a game of it in the second half.
Manager Kenny Lindoe made one change to the starting XI which had beaten Ramsbottom United 4-2 in the FA Vase four days earlier, with David Brown coming in at left-back in place of injured skipper Carl Piecha, with Anthony Lund again filling in at centre-half.
Northallerton gave early notice that they weren’t going to be a pushover, and their skipper, midfielder Martin Butterworth, had the game’s first chance, hitting a shot from the edge of the box which was a comfortable enough save for Barry Poskett in the Consett goal.
The home side took 10 minutes to create anything worthwhile, and when they did it took a good save from Town keeper Stephen Craggs to prevent them taking the lead.
Harrison Davies, playing wide on the right, played a one-two with Marc Walton and curled a fine shot towards the bottom-left corner, which looked like it might beat Craggs, but the keeper was equal to it, pushing it to safety.
Sadly for Northallerton, their No 1 was at fault a minute later for the opening goal of the game, making a hash of Michael Mackay‘s 25-yarder and having to pick it out of his net as a result.
A long punt forward by Poskett then saw Walton execute a perfect chest pass to Davies, who was marauding down the right. He got almost to the byline before putting in a dangerous cross-shot which was kicked off the line by a defender before anyone in a red shirt could apply the finishing touch.
Consett didn’t have to wait long for goal No 2, which came from a trademark finish by Mackay, pictured top, on 18 minutes. He was sent clear by an excellent pass into the left-hand channel, drew the keeper and slotted home in the style of old to put Consett firmly in control.
Davies was at the heart of most of Consett’s attacking play, and he teed up Jamie Poole with a teasing cross which was headed just wide of the right-hand post, but on 31 minutes Mackay completed his second hat-trick of the season, taking his tally to 25 in all competitions, and again it was down to a goalkeeping error.
A backpass saw Craggs miss his attempted clearance, and Mackay slotted into an empty net. As half-time approached it looked like a case of how many Consett would score, and when Craggs fumbled a Davies corner from the right, Dale Burrell was angry with himself for not getting over his shot from outside the box.
A fourth goal wasn’t long coming, however, and it was Davies who got it a minute before the break, with an excellent first strike for the club. Lund started the move with a ball out from the back, and Davies played a one-two with Walton before beating the keeper with a first-time lob from 25 yards after spotting him out of position.
Half-time: Consett 4 Northallerton Town 0
Consett’s 4-0 lead, coupled with an increasingly strong wind and Northallerton’s determination not to suffer a pasting made it a frustrating second 45 minutes. Ryan Bell’s surges forward from right-back showed he was fully recovered from his recent hamstring problems, and one such foray should have seen him add to his single goal in Consett colours.
Chris Hutchinson – on as a half-time sub for Brown, with Poole reverting to left-back and Davies switching flanks – picked Bell out as he continued one run, but he put his shot over the bar.
To their credit, Northallerton hadn’t given up the game as a lost cause, and it was the introduction of their top scorer Peter Bulmer which led to their best spell of the match.
He pulled a goal back on 66 minutes after Town were allowed the freedom of the penalty area, reacting quickest when a shot came back off the post.
Five minutes later there was another scare when Hutchinson gave the ball away in his own half and let in right-back Stephen Butterworth, whose low, effort was beaten out by Poskett for a corner.
Hutchinson almost made amends on 72 minutes, when, after some good interplay by Mackay and Walton, he skinned his defender and prodded a shot which was heading in, even after Craggs got a foot to it, until left-back Stuart Dunn hooked clear off the line.
Northallerton centre-forward Gary Mitchell shaved the outside of a post and Carl Chillingsworth fired across the face of goal after going for glory, with two colleagues waiting for a pass. But Town’s resistance was finally put to bed in the 86th minute when substitute Gavin Ross added a fifth goal for Consett.
Davies, who’d had a quiet second half, was the creator, dropping deep to pick up the ball, and sending the teenage striker clear with a glorious pass, which he buried with aplomb.
There was still time for Northallerton to give the scoreline a slightly more respectable look in the third minute of added time when Chillingsworth was given time and space to fire past Poskett from 10 yards, but the damage had been done in the first half, and it was Consett who secured an away tie against Norton & Stockton Ancients in the next round.
Consett: 1 Barry Poskett, 2 Ryan Bell (sub Michael Pearson 65), 3 David Brown (sub Chris Hutchinson 46), 4 Dale Burrell, 5 David Scorer, 6 Anthony Lund, 7 Harrison Davies, 8 Craig Robson (capt), 9 Marc Walton (sub Gavin Ross 71), 10 Michael Mackay, 11 Jamie Poole. Subs not used: Peter Jameson (GK), Damian Maw.
Northallerton Town: 1 Craggs, 2 S Butterworth, 3 Dunn, 4 Hickman, 5 Chapman, 6 M Butterworth (capt), 7 Anderson (Bulmer 59), 8 Parkin, 9 Mitchell, 10 Chillingsworth, 11 Clayton (Cook 73). Sub not used: Winter.
Strikers Marc Walton and Michael Mackay may have grabbed the glory with a brace of goals apiece as Consett beat Ramsbottom United 4-2 in the FA Vase 2nd Round on this day in 2011.
Continue reading “On this day: 19 November 2011 – Consett show in Vase victory that while goals win games, so do crunching tackles”
A Craig Robson thunderbolt and a Gavin Ross double kept Consett on top of the Northern League 1st Division with a 3-2 victory over Bishop Auckland, in the first competitive game held at their excellent new Heritage Park ground, on this day in 2010.
After a couple of days of heavy rain, the game only took place after the efforts of a couple of dozen supporters and club officials, who worked to drain the newly-laid field of some wet patches.
Consett made just one change from the side which had come from two goals down to beat Jarrow Roofing 3-2 seven days earlier. Gareth Powell made his debut – and what turn out to be his only appearance for the club – in goal in place of the injured Barry Poskett.
The home side – who had pulled a bumper 1,400 crowd for the official opening of the ground in midweek, for a friendly against Middlesbrough played in monsoon conditions – included three former Consett players. Graham Irving, who swapped Belle Vue for Bishops the previous month, was at centre-half, while Dan Olusoga, who had a spell as a Steelman the previous season, made his debut up front after signing from Hebburn Town. Adam Emson, who was returning from injury, was named on the bench after a late fitness test.
Three other players who would go on to play for Consett were also in the Bishops line-up: goalkeeper Peter Jeffries, midfielder Chris Bell, and a young striker called Daniel Hawkins.
The game started slowly, with neither side making any serious threat to the scoreboard, although it was Consett who enjoyed more of the possession. However, they had to wait until the 32nd minute to register a serious attempt on goal, and it was from a familiar combination, with Danny Craggs sending a perfect cross onto the head of Gavin Barton, but Jeffries superbly denied the No 10 against his old club.
The game was starting to come to life at this point and on 36 minutes the home side almost broke the deadlock, but Powell saved well from Hawkins after he had been played through by an excellent pass from the lively Chris Bell.
Bishops were starting to look dangerous, but it was the visitors who broke the deadlock on 40 minutes through an unlikely source. Midfielder Craig Robson hit a 25-yard rocket into the corner – his first goal since returning to the club, and only his fifth in more than 120 games – following good work from Gavin Ross.
The goal led to a sustained spell of pressure by Consett, and although they couldn’t add another before half-time, they were good value for their lead.
Half-time: Bishop Auckland 0 Consett 1
Bishops made a change at half-time, with Emson replacing Arran Wearmouth, and the change certainly had a positive effect, with the home team starting to cause problems down Consett’s right-hand side.
Despite this it was Consett who came closest to another goal on 59 minutes as a long clearance from Carl Piecha somehow found Ross clean through on goal, but the young striker shot straight at Jeffries.
A second goal at that point would surely have clinched the game, but the let-off proved costly as Bishops piled on the pressure, and on 62 minutes the inevitable happened when Darren Atkinson made a determined run down the left and his low pinpoint cross was deftly flicked into the bottom-right corner from no more than six yards by Hawkins.
The home team were now having their best spell of the game, and pinned Consett almost in their own 18-yard box. On 78 minutes the pressure told when Bishops went ahead, with Hawkins again finishing from close range following good work from Olusoga and Emson.
There seemed to be no way back for Consett, but the gamed turned completely out of the blue on 80 minutes when the Bishops defence and goalkeeper made an awful mess of a long ball forward and Gavin Ross was left to tap into an open goal to make it 2-2.
Consett would surely have settled for a hard-earned away point, but three minutes later Ross again finished from close range following a cross from the right wing to make it 3-2.
There was controversy surrounding the goal, however, with the home team all literally stopping and watching Ross score, believing the ball had gone out for a throw-in before it was swung over.
The protest continued for a good few minutes, with the Two Blues’ management team led by future Consett boss Colin Myers – sprinting the length of the pitch to have their say to the linesman concerned, but regardless of whether the ball was in or out, the whistle had not gone, and Consett rightly continued to play.
The Steelmen held out fairly comfortably in the last few minutes, gaining revenge for an early-season FA Cup replay defeat by the same scoreline by the Two Blues.
Full-time: Bishop Auckland 2 Consett 3
Bishop Auckland: 1 Peter Jeffries. 2 Chris Lawson, 3 Darren Atkinson, 4 Wayne Clarke, 5 Graham Irving, 6 Steven Turnbull (sub Simon Ord), 7 Chris Bell, 8 Stephen Salvin, 9 Dan Olusoga, 10 Dan Hawkins, 11 Aaron Wearmouth (sub Adam Emson). Subs not used. Ryan Graham, Kieron Day, Mark Henson
Consett: 1 Gareth Powell, 2 Kieran Megran (sub Ryan Bell), 3 Jamie Poole (sub Anthony Lund), 4 David Scorer, 5 Carl Piecha, 6 Danny Craggs, 7 Dale Burrell, 8 Craig Robson, 9 Gavin Barton (sub Scott Martindale), 10 Gavin Ross, 11 Mark Eccles. Subs not used: Barry Poskett, Michael Coulthard.
Consett eased through the 1st Round of the Durham Challenge Cup on this day in 2014, winning 5-2 at Ryhope CW – with the game effectively decided in six dramatic first-half minutes.
Manager Kenny Lindoe made just one change to the side which had drawn with Newcastle Benfield for the Tuesday night game, with Mark Eccles coming in at left-back, and Josh Gray pushing into midfield in place of the injured Jonny Wright.
With Adam Nicholls, Scott Martindale and David Brown also injured and Luke Sullivan and Josie Longstaff unavailable, goalkeeping coach Ben Cole was named among the subs.
Ryhope included two popular ex-Consett players in their starting XI, goalkeeper Barry Poskett and midfielder David Pounder, pictured top, and both were to play prominent roles in an incident-packed first half.
Pounder got the home side off to the perfect start, collecting a cross from the left and smashing a left-footed effort into the top corner from 25 yards after just two minutes.
Within a minute Poskett had spread himself well to save an effort from Aris Guerin-Lokonga, with Michael Mackay’s follow-up effort blocked by a defender.
Calvin Smith then hit a 25-yard free-kick well over the top, before supplying the incisive pass for Aris Guerin-Lokonga to level on 12 minutes, drawing the keeper and firing home.
Ryhope had a couple of half-chances before the incident on 23 minutes which probably changed the entire course of the game.
Guerin-Lokonga latched onto a through ball and his lob looked certain to put Consett ahead until Poskett instinctively threw up his hands as he raced out of his area to meet The keeper handled the ball on the edge of the D, and after consulting his linesman, the referee showed him a straight red card.
Player-manager Gary Pearson went in goal, but his first task was to pick the ball out of the net three minutes later as Josh Gray‘s cross from the left squirmed under his body at the near post.
Within a minute it was 3-1 as Consett regained possession from the kick-off and Gray’s cross gave Michael Mackay an easy finish from seven yards.
Then on 29 minutes Smith touched a free-kick shot to Josh Gray, who rifled a shot into the top corner to make it 4-1.
The home side were reeling, and eight minutes before half-time a wonderful Smith pass sent Michael Mackay clear, and the striker finished with aplomb past the stand-in keeper for his 21st goal of the season.
Matty Slocombe had a shot blocked, Gray sent another just wide of the far post and, right on half-time, Guerin-Lokonga was denied what looked a clear penalty when he muscled his way past by two defenders and was pulled back, only for the referee to bottle the decision and blow his whistle for half-time.
Half-time: Ryhope CW 1 Consett 5
At 5-1 up, Consett had effectively booked their passage into the 2nd Round and a game at Gateshead, so it was no surprise that they took their foot off the pedal a little.
Chris Youldon was brought on for the second half in place of Ryan Bell, while Ryhope made two changes, bringing on teenage goalkeeper Anthony Rooke for Pearson and midfielder Nathan O’Neill for right-back James Cook.
Within 10 minutes of the restart they’d made it clear that despite being a man shot, they were going to give it a go, as first left-back Martin Metcalfe and then midfielder Matthew Weirs tested Chris Elliott. The Consett keeper then had to get down smartly at his near post to a free-kick from Weirs.
At the other end, Smith hit the bar with a looping header from an Eccles cross, and then wasn’t too far away with a well-struck effort from 25 yards which flew just over the bar. Ryhope had a good chance to reduce the arrears when Weirs’ left-wing corner was headed down by O’Neill, and Craig Hughes volleyed into the ground and over the bar.
Consett made a couple more changes, bringing on Danny Craggs for Carl Piecha (with Slocombe moving to centre-back) and Chris Moore for Gray, and it seemed to perk up their somewhat flat second-half display.
Moore’s pass gave Mackay a chance to complete his hat-trick, though Rooke did well to save at his feet and then benefited from a fortuitous ricochet.
Then Guerin-Lokonga looked odds-on to score after the keeper spilled a left-wing cross, until his shot took a deflection off a defender, hit the post, and was scrambled clear. Rooke did well again to keep out a 25-yard free-kick from Eccles, diving full-length to his right to push it around the post.
To their credit, Ryhope kept taking the game to their higher-ranked opponents, and got their reward with an 89th-minute consolation goal from Metcalfe, who drilled a low shot past Elliott.
The final minute saw Mackay net from a rebound after Rooke couldn’t hold onto Moore’s shot, but the striker was denied by the linesman’s flag, and Consett had to settle for a 5-2 passage into the next round.
Ryhope CW: 1 Barry Poskett, 2 James Cook (sub Nathan O’Neill 46), 3 Martin Metcalfe, 4 Paul Braithwaite, 5 Gary Pearson (sub Anthony Rooke 46), 6 Max Stoker, 7 Matthew Weirs, 8 Craig Hughes, 9 Jack Pounder, 10 David Pounder, 11 Alex Marshall.
Subs not used: Chris Trewick, Philip Hall
Consett: 1 Chris Elliott, 2 Ryan Bell (sub Chris Youldon 46), 3 Mark Eccles, 4 Gilberto Chapim, 5 Carl Piecha (sub Danny Craggs 64), 6 Dan Madden, 7 Matty Slocombe, 8 Calvin Smith, 9 Aris Guerin-Lokonga, 10 Michael Mackay, 11 Josh Gray (sub Chris Moore 70). Subs not used: Adam Nicholls, Ben Cole
Consett extended their unbeaten run in the Arngrove Northern League 1st Division to 13 games and in the process climbed to the top of the table with a 4-2 win at struggling West Allotment Celtic on this day in 2007.
Manager Kenny Lindoe made three changes to the side that relinquished its grip on the Durham Challenge Cup in a home defeat by local rivals Tow Law three days earlier. Craig Turns returned in goal, Carl Piecha to the defence and Gary Ormston to midfield, with James Platten, Rob Story and John Ewart making way for them. The line-ups for both sides included a Patterson, a Johnson and a Brown!
The game was effectively over within 20 minutes, by which time The Steelmen were 3-0 up. On 12 minutes they worked a short corner to David Pounder who chipped a delicate cross into Carl Piecha, who headed home,
Two minutes later Mattie Moffat was fouled on the edge of the area and Steven Brown fired the free-kick round the wall and in off the post to double Consett’s lead.
Before the home side could do anything about their predicament they found themselves three down as a reverse ball from Moffat set Steven Johnson in the clear with the Celtic defence claiming in vain for offside. The young striker slotted the ball coolly past home keeper Morton for his 19th goal of the season.
The home side, to their credit, refused to throw in the towel and somehow managed to make a contest of the remaining 70 minutes. Consett keeper Craig Turns was forced to make a point-blank save from Tom Vickers when he responded quickest to a ball played into the area by Andy Johnson.
Twelve minutes before the break Steven Brown played a one-two with Gary Ormston and fired the return pass into the side netting, but there was to be no further addition to the scoring in the first half.
A harsh penalty six minutes after the interval gave the home side a lifeline. Andy Hay cut inside and appeared to slip in the process, however the referee deemed he had been tripped by Mark Gaffney and Keith Douglas sent Turns the wrong way from the spot.
Piecha almost struck back three minutes later, shooting over from Steven Johnson’s cross. However the young defender scored his second of the game on the hour mark to restore Consett’s three-goal lead. After a lengthy stoppage following Ormston’s collision with the perimeter fence, David Pounder’s corner picked out Piecha, whose looping header found the net despite the attempts of a defender on the line to head away.
Consett always looked likely to score more and ought to have done on 74 minutes when Moffat outmuscled a defender to leave three blue shirts against two defenders. Moffat rolled the ball to his strike partner Johnson, but his shot was straight at Morton.
Three minutes later a brilliant run down the wing from Ormston ended with a cross to Moffat, but it was just too low for the number 9 to meet with his head and the ball rolled to safety.
The home wouldn’t give up, however, and after Ben Dawson had volleyed a poor clearance back towards goal but just off target, Celtic made it 4-2 with three minutes remaining. Douglas delivered a perfect free-kick from wide right and the unmarked Tom Vickers headed home.
Steven Johnson and Ormston both went close for Consett in the closing stages, while at the other end they were fortunate to survive an incredible goalmouth scramble deep into stoppage time. In the end though the Steelmen were good value for their win, and with Durham inactive, they went to the top of the league for the first time this season.
West Allotment Celtic: 1 Morton, 2 Douglas, 3 D Patterson (sub Mitchison 82), 4 Hughes, 5 A Brown, 6 Locker, 7 A Johnson, 8 Dawson, 9 Hay (sub Houlsby 69), 10 Vickers, 11 York (sub Richardson 60).
Consett: 1 Craig Turns, 2 Michael Coulthard, 3 Mark Gaffney, 4 Mark Patterson (sub John Clark 72), 5 Carl Piecha (sub Rob Story 77), 6 Craig Robson, 7 Gary Ormston, 8 Steven Brown (sub Davey Robson 86), 9 Mattie Moffat, 10 Steven Johnson, 11 David Pounder.
Four goals in an amazing 15-minute spell either side of half-time gave Consett the points against bottom club Hebburn Town on this day back in 2013.
But manager Kenny Lindoe was just as pleased with the clean sheet his side kept in the Ebac Northern League Division One game at Hebburn Sports Club – it was just their second of the season.
This was their 16th consecutive away game of a lop-sided season as they waited for their new ground Belle View Stadium to be finished.
In a typically attack-minded move, Lindoe made just one change to the starting line-up from the previous game, a 5-3 midweek win at Morpeth, which you can read about here, with Aris Guerin-Lokonga coming in for the injured David Brown.
He lined up in a three-man attack with Michael Mackay and Luke Sullivan, with Anthony Lund dropping in to left-back. Hebburn, who were still looking for their first league win of the season, included one ex-Steelman, midfielder Daniel Reeves, who’d made three appearances in 2011-12.
Consett started the game as they’d left off against Morpeth four days earlier, and Sullivan had a chance after just two minutes, but volleyed wide of the left-hand post from Mackay’s cross.
But both sides struggled to find any sort of rhythm for the next 20 minutes, and the first-half had reached its midway point by the time the next serious chance arrived.
Sullivan tried his luck with a free-kick from 25 yards, and although Consett claimed a defender in the wall had handled, the referee was unmoved.
Mackay had the next notable chance on 25 minutes, but fired over from 20 yards – so far over, in fact, that the ball cleared the wall behind the goal and ended up on the main road outside.
However, Michael Mackay showed he had his shooting boots on 10 minutes later when he received the ball on the edge of the box, worked an opportunity for himself, and cracked home a great shot to make it 1-0.
Seven minutes later it was 2-0, and this time it was top scorer Luke Sullivan on target. Consett were awarded a free-kick on the right, and Calvin Smith’s dead ball was met by the head of the No 9, who powered it home from eight yards.
Right on half-time Consett scored again, and it was the best goal of the game. Chris Bell’s corner from the right was cleared only as far as Andrew Cuthbertson on the left edge of the box, and he took a couple of steps forward before curling an exquisite chip just under the bar, beyond the grasp of Hebburn keeper Andy Hunter. Cuppa didn’t score many, but when he did they were top-quality.
Consett went in at the break 3-0 up, and within five minutes of the restart they had extended their advantage. Michael Pearson’s pass in from the right found Michael Mackay, who prodded the ball home from inside the six-yard box.
It seemed to be a question of how many Consett would now score, but to Hebburn’s credit they kept plugging away, and began to create chances themselves.
Giant striker Channon North had one shot saved by keeper Jack Norton, then blazed the rebound over, and steered another wide with the goal at his mercy.
Consett also had chances to add to their total. Smith struck a 30-yarder just over the bar, and Mackay drilled a shot wide from Chris Bell’s pass. The ex-Hartlepool striker had a great chance to complete his hat-trick when he was set up by Guerin-Lokonga on 72 minutes, but again fired over from 20 yards.
The last chance of the game fell to Hebburn No 9 Kris Goss, with just a couple of minutes remaining, but he hit the bar with a free header after a sloppy piece of marking by the Consett defence.
HEBBURN TOWN: 1 Andy Hunter (captain), 2 Matthew Hornsby (sub 15 Scott Wallace 46 mins), 3 Peter Henderson, 4 Daniel Reeves, 5 Alexander Downey, 6 Kris Summers, 7 Marc Costello, 8 Michael Watson (sub 13 Callum Smith 46 mins), 9 Kris Goss, 10 Channon North, 11 Lewis Lynch (sub 16 Paul Gordon 70 mins). Subs not used: 12 Chris Smith, 14 Kevin Morton.
CONSETT: 1 Jack Norton, 2 Michael Pearson, 3 Anthony Lund, 4 Calvin Smith, 5 Carl Piecha (captain) (sub 15 Scott Martindale 79 mins), 6 Ryan Bell, 7 Chris Bell, 8 Andrew Cuthbertson (sub 17 Matty Slocombe 65 mins), 9 Luke Sullivan (sub 12 Ian Davidson 61 mins), 10 Michael Mackay, 11 Aris Guerin-Lokonga. Subs not used: 14 Kieran Martin, 16 Craig Robson.
Consett showed both sides of their Jekyll and Hyde character in a game against Whitley Bay in this day back in 2008.
The Steelmen eventually ran out comfortable 4-1 winners against a Seasiders side who would end the season by scuppering Consett’s title hopes – read more about that here – and recording the first of three consecutive FA Vase triumphs.
When this game took place at Belle Vue Park on Saturday 8 November, Consett were 2nd in the skilltrainingltd Northern League Division One, having been knocked off the top after losing at Chester-le-Street the week before. Whitley Bay were 11th.
Even within this 90 minutes, Consett’s following were treated to a bit of everything, as for the first half an hour they were a distant second best to their visitors. However, for the rest of the game the performance was as good as the previous week’s defeat at Chester Moor Park had been poor.
Whitley had by far the better of the opening exchanges, threatening as early as the sixth minute when Paul Chow’s low shot forced Consett keeper Paul Gilmore into a good save. Gilmore saved the Steelmen again four minutes later, coming out save with his feet from Bruce Hogg who was left clean through when Carl Piecha missed an attempted clearance.
Adam Emson had shot wide under pressure in Consett’s only serious attack of the first third of the game, but the Steelmen were soon under pressure again, with David Coulson – who would go on to have a brief spell at the club a few years later – heading a left-wing corner over the bar.
The inevitable breakthrough came for the Bay on 25 minutes. After Chow saw a shot blocked and loop up into the air, Chris Fawcett held off his marker to lay the ball off to Bruce Hogg, who hammered it into roof of the net.
It was almost 2-0 a couple of minutes later when Paul Robinson’s ball over the top released Chow, but Gilmore came out smartly to tackle the ever-dangerous striker.
Completely against the run of play, Consett found themselves level in the 36th minute. David Pounder’s right-wing corner dropped in the six yard box and after a goalmouth scramble Carl Piecha poked the ball home to make it 1-1.
The goal acted like an off switch for Whitley, who were simply never in the game thereafter. Andy Cuthbertson sent in a fine cross which Steven Johnson headed at Bay keeper Terry Burke, and then two minutes before half-time Consett took the lead. Jonjo Dickman won an important challenge in the Bay penalty area and the ball broke kindly to Emson, who fired home from eight yards.
Emson should have added another on the stroke of half time when he skinned Darren Timmons and bore down on goal, but Burke stopped Emmo’s effort with his legs.
Half-time: Consett 2 Whitley Bay 1
Burke was much the busier of the two keepers in the second half but could only watch thankfully as Emson’s glancing header from Pounder’s wicked inswinging corner flashed wide.
The Steelmen had a scare just before the hour mark when a right-wing corner was only half cleared as far as Chris Fawcett, whose volley arrived at an awkward height, forcing Gilmore to somehow fumble the ball round the post.
Consett spent much of their time soaking up pressure from their visitors and then hitting them with dangerous attacks, and one such situation midway through the second half resulted in Emson and Johnson up against just one defender, however the attack ended with Johnson shooting harmlessly at Burke.
Another lethal Pounder inswinger almost found the net directly, but Burke tipped it over the bar. Two minutes later though, Consett’s third finally arrived as a result of another counter-attack.
Johnson collected the ball then sent an excellent defence-splitting pass through to the unmarked Emson, who took his chance first time and make no mistake.
This stirred Bay out of their slumbers and on 77 minutes Chris Moore – who would later play for and manage Consett – embarked on a brilliant run past five defenders, only to see Gilmore cut out his cross. Five minutes later substitute Lee Kerr fired in a shot, but Chow deflected it over the bar from in front of goal.
Consett added their fourth in the last minute of normal time. Whitley threw everyone up for a corner, but Emson’s clearance set Johnson on a quick breakaway, and despite being on his own he beat a defender and let fly with a shot that had enough pace to cross the line despite Burke getting both hands to the ball.
There was still time for Bay’s Fawcett and Consett’s Johnson to be denied in one on ones, but there was no further scoring and the Steelmen stormed back to the top of the Northern League with this impressive win.
Full-time: Consett 4 Whitley Bay 1
Consett: 1 Paul Gilmore, 2 Karl Baston, 3 Michael Coulthard, 4 Jonjo Dickman, 5 Carl Piecha, 6 Craig Robson, 7 Chris Scott (sub David Scorer 84), 8 Andrew Cuthbertson, 9 Adam Emson, 10 Steven Johnson, 11 David Pounder. Subs not used: Paul Curry, James Platten, Carl Heiniger, Mattie Moffat.
Whitley Bay: 1 Terry Burke, 2 Darren Timmons, 3 Chris Reid (sub Leon Ryan 46), 4 Craig McFarlane, 5 David Coulson, 6 Bruce Hogg (sub Lee Kerr 60), 7 Chris Moore, 8 Damon Robson, 9 Chris Fawcett, 10 Paul Chow, 11 Paul Robinson (sub Mark Taylor 48). Subs not used: Phil Bell, Darren Reay.
