West Auckland (Home): Northern League Division 1: Tuesday 27th Sept 2011

Result: Marske United 1 West Auckland 4     Scorer: Ormerod

Following Saturday’s heavy defeat in the FA Vase to West Auckland, Burto was forced into a number of changes.  Saturday’s keeper Jonathan Collinson was unavailable so Tom Lumb came in for his second appearance of the season.  Both Mark Taylor and Andy Raw were injured and Basher dropped to the bench; in came the returning Adam Wheatley, Lee Donachie and new signing Michael Wilson at right back.  Although four of the back five changed from Saturday, the rest of the team was the same with Ormerod, Wesson, Bradley and Cochrane in midfield and McGill supporting Brunskill in attack.

The game started in the worst possible way with captain Dom Gamble losing the ball in midfield, leaving Banks to cut in from the right and score with a low shot from the edge of the box that Lumb was unable to reach.

Unlike Saturday, Marske didn’t concede again immediately and had a good spell of possession without creating too many chances.  The best was after 14 minutes when Derek Bradley worked hard to keep the ball in and win a throw-in, from which Glenn Wesson’s excellent cross just eluded the onrushing Danny Brunskill.

Both teams were forced into changes with Mark Stephenson replacing the injured Ross Preston for West, and Karl Charlton replacing Bradley who had taken a knock in the face.

On 24 minutes more dithering in midfield by Marske led to a quick break from West which ended with a Danny Hindmarsh shot going wide.  10 minutes later and Marske were level.  A Donachie free kick on the left touchline was headed home by Anth Ormerod from around the penalty spot.

Play switched to the other end and Hindmarsh had a shot saved by Lumb and the half ended with a snap shot from Ormerod going wide.

Half-time:  Marske United 1 v 1 West Auckland

The second half started with chances at both ends.  Firstly, a minute after the restart, a quality cross from the left from Charlton was missed by Brunskill but the ball deflected onto Chris McGill from the West defender but went wide.  Two minutes later magnificent skills from Stuart Banks saw him beat four Marske players but his shot was deflected wide for a corner. 

The 52nd minute saw the first booking of the game as Wilson, who was having a sound debut, was harshly booked for fouling Hindmarsh.  On 57 minutes Marske could have taken the lead.  Brunskill was fouled on the right hand side and Charlton’s free kick to the back post was headed against the upright by Donaghie with Mark Bell beaten.

A minute later Marske had an even better chance to lead and it fell to Donachie once again.  A Steve Cochrane corner was headed on by Charlton at the near post and fell to Donachie only two yards out but all he succeeded in doing was looping the ball in the air and Bell got back to claim the ball on the line.

This was as good as it got for Marske as West took the lead on 65 minutes.  Good work from substitute Michael Rae found Hindmarsh and he was fouled in the box by Gamble.  Mattie Moffat  stepped up to send Lumb the wrong way and put West 2-1 into the lead.

A minute later it got worse for Marske as the influential Ormerod limped off to be replaced by Jon Burton who immediately had a chance to equalise when a high ball was allowed to bounce in the box but his shot went wide of Bell’s left post. 

On 71 minutes, Marske had a further chance to draw level. Charlton did superbly to keep the ball in and play in McGill who had a ferocious shot from 12 yards which went agonisingly past Bell’s right hand post.

On 72 minutes Burto made his final change with Roberts replacing Wilson who was given a warm reception by the home fans. 

Three minutes later it was game over as a shot from sub Martin Young was parried by Lumb but fell to Hindmarsh six yards out to finish comfortably.

Marske’s last chance of the game fell to Cochrane on 82 minutes but his shot from the edge of the box clipped the top of the crossbar and went over. 

With two minutes to go West gave the scoreline a flattering look when Alex Francis waltzed through a static Marske backline to lift the ball over Lumb.

Full-time: Marske United 1 v 4 West Auckland

Despite the scoreline, this was a much improved performance by the Seasiders who matched their opponents for 65 minutes. Marske looked much more solid at the back with the returning Wheatley and Wilson both having good games.  Perhaps the issue was one of fitness as West played for the full 90 minutes, whereas Marske struggled for the last 20 minutes.  Despite the good performance, South Shields’ win against Tow Law saw Marske drop into the bottom three having not picked up a league win since the opening weekend.

Teams:

Marske United: Lumb, Wilson (Roberts), Gamble, Ormerod (J.Burton), Donachie, Wheatley, Bradley (Charlton), Cochrane, Brunskill, McGill, Wesson.  Not Used:  Raw.

West Auckland Town: Bell, Parker, Preston (Stephenson), Wilson (Young), Gibson, Francis, Banks (Rae), Brown, Moffat, Hindmarsh, Nicholls.  Not Used:  Coad, Garthwaite.

Match Sponsors M/OM:  Michael Wilson

Referee:  Dean Chapman (Sedgefield)