Tag: josh gray

danny craggs

On this day: 12 November 2016 – Consett come from behind to beat Guisborough, despite finishing with only 10 men

An excellent second-half performance saw Consett come from behind to beat bottom side Guisborough Town 4-1 at Belle View Stadium on this day four years ago.
 
The match was preceded by two minutes’ silence for the following day’s Remembrance Sunday, and the Steelmen started like they had a point to prove after a disappointing 1-1 midweek draw with Jarrow Roofing.
 
Top scorer Luke Sullivan had the first chance after just two minutes, but was thwarted by old boy Jamie Poole after his initial shot was saved.
 
Michael Sweet headed just over from Nick Cassidy’s cross after eight minutes, and Lewis Teasdale did the same from Sweet’s flick-on after quarter of an hour.

Consett’s Jordan Nellis goes past his man. Pic: Gary Welford.

A nip-and-tuck period followed, in which neither side created a clear-cut opening, until great work by Sullivan saw Jordan Nellis almost score on 41 minutes with a cheeky backheel, but keeper James Dawson saved with his legs.
 
Consett keeper Sam Guthrie had to be alert a minute later when Thibault Charmey’s cross picked out David Onions, but the young keeper pulled off an excellent save, tipping the ball over the bar.
 
There was nothing he could do on 44 minutes, however, when Guisborough took an unexpected lead. Another ex-Steelman, Chris Youldon, opened up the Consett defence with a great pass, and Charmey did the rest, finishing coolly past Guthrie, despite the attentions of Cassidy.

Guisborough take the lead through Thibault Charmey. Pic: Gary Welford.

Sweet had a chance to level before half-time after he was played in by skipper Danny Craggs, but keeper Dawson made another good save, deflecting his shot over the bar.

Half-time: Consett 0 Guisborough Town 1
 
Whatever manager Mark Eccles said in the dressing room during the break obviously had the desired effect, as Consett came out for the second half fired up, and levelled within three minutes of the restart.

Michael Sweet plays peacemaker between Consett old boy Jamie Poole and Luke Sullivan. Pic: Gary Welford.

Teasdale won the ball with a great tackle out on the right as Guisborough tried to play the ball out, and delivered a perfect cross to the front past for Luke Sullivan to net his 20th goal of the season with a diving header.
 
Teasdale almost got on the scoresheet himself four minutes later, when his shot was blocked after he was set up from a corner.
 
The impetus was now firmly with Consett, and they took the lead on the hour with a well-worked goal. Nellis did the spadework, Sullivan helped the ball back into the danger area, and Michael Sweet was on hand to make it 2-1, despite Guisborough’s appeals for offside.

Luke Sullivan is congratulated by Michael Sweet after making it 1-1. Pic: Gary Welford.

Three minutes later it was 3-1, and Michael Sweet had his 14th goal in 14 starts, applying the finishing touch to an excellent flowing move which started when Craggs won the ball in midfield, surged forward and fed Nellis, who unselfishly squared for the No.9 to tap home.
 
On 72 minutes it was 4-1, and Danny Craggs got his reward for his man-of-the-match performance with his 11th goal of the season. Sullivan started the move out on the left and passed to Josh Gray, who set up the skipper to find the bottom corner from inside the D on the edge of the penalty area. His celebration is pictured, top.
 
It now seemed like a matter of how many Consett would score, but the only black mark of a fine second 45 minutes happened with 15 minutes to go, when the referee decided that a tackle by Teasdale right in front of the dugouts deserved a straight red card.

Skipper Danny Craggs consoles Lewis Teasdale after his sending-off. Pic: Gary Welford.

It was the second that local hero Lewy had had this season, and cost him a four-game ban – a real shame, as he had been playing extremely well in a new midfield role.
 
Although they were down to 10 men, it was Consett who had the better chances to add further goals, with Craggs, Sullivan and Gray all forcing saves from the keeper, while Guthrie made a couple of smart stops at the other end.
 
With some of their rivals on FA Vase duty, the win lifted Consett to 5th – their highest league position of the season.

Nick Cassidy gets a foot in on another Consett old boy, Chris Youldon. Pic: Gary Welford.

Consett: 1 Sam Guthrie, 2 Nick Cassidy, 3 Clark Kay, 4 Ryan McKinnon, 5 Jake Stafford, 6 Dan Hawkins, 7 Lewis Teasdale, 8 Danny Craggs, 9 Michael Sweet (sub Nathan Lawrence 77), 10 Luke Sullivan (sub Adam Knowles 83), 11 Jordan Nellis (sub Josh Gray 70). Subs not used: Matty Slocombe, Scott Canham.

Guisborough Town: 1 James Dawson, 2 Harrison Scott, 3 Joe Ferguson, 4 Paul Roddam, 5 Jamie Poole, 6 Liam McPhillips (sub Paul Blake 32), 7 Stewart Bath, 8 Chris Youldon, 9 David Onions (sub Connor Smith 71), 10 Thibault Charmey (sub Josh Holden 77), 11 Matty Pennal. Subs not used: Ben Escritt (GK), Henri Morland.

On This Day: 11 November 2014 – Cup drama at Ryhope as Consett old boy has a night to forget

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.

Aris Guerin-Lokonga equalises for Consett. Pic: Gary Welford.

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.

Ryhope keeper Barry Poskett was shown a red card for this handball . Pic: Gary Welford.

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.

Michael Mackay makes it 5-1 to Consett. Pic: Gary Welford.

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.

Chris Youldon runs at the Ryhope defence. Pic: Gary Welford.

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.

Matty Slocombe ended the game playing centre-back for Consett. Pic: Gary Welford.

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.

Michael Mackay was denied a hat-trick by the linesman’s flag. Pic: Gary Welford.

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