Ebac Northern League Division One 17 September 2013 Gray payday by Ken Milgate Durham City 1 Gray 52 Whitley Bay 0 The match was decided by a Josh Gray goal of supreme quality set up by MOTM Ian Ward’s persistence and timely lay-off; a second goal would have put the game to bed, but despite going close on numerous occasions City had to survive some anxious moments before completing their third League victory. City dominated the opening ten minutes before the Bay had a sniff at goal: Joe Hughes skewed wide after Gray had threaded his way between two defenders and crossed into the box; Ward missed out when Thomas Kindley could only parry clear Craig Hindmarch’s shot into his path; Denver Morris whipped in a cross that went begging; Gray gave Kindley an easy save with a soft shot and Hughes aimed straight at the keeper after another good run by Hindmarch. Ironically, on 12minutes the Bay almost took the lead when Jarrett Rivers headed against the outside of the post from a James Novak cross. Craig Ellison followed with a soft shot and a high free-kick either side of Rivers’ wide effort to end a goalless first half. Early in the second half Ward was off target with a back-post header from an Ellison free-kick before Ashley Davis was way too high with a free strike from the edge of the box. Then came the one and only goal: Ward kept possession of the ball before providing Gray with the opportunity to beat Kindley with a venomous rising drive into the opposite top corner. Kindley held onto a Hughes rising drive, and Paul Antony headed over at the back post while Dan Madden was off the field of play receiving treatment. On 68minutes Rhys Jobling pulled off a get-out-of-jail save to deny Paul Chow as City were all at sea dealing with a cross and several subsequent dangerous moves. But two minutes later Stephen Harrison hit his obligatory low drive destined for the bottom corner only for Kindley to concede a corner; a subsequent left-foot drive saw Harrison clear the bar. The last goal-scoring opportunity fell to Ward who hit a crisp drive not too far over after a great interception by Harrison. The result owed much to an impressive team performance with Madden, Hindmarch and Jack Walker running Ward close to MOTM. Durham City – Jobling, Harrison, Walker, Hindmarch, Madden, Oates, Morris (O’Dea 73), Ellison (Dixon 87), Gray, Ward, Hughes (Stoker 73) Subs not used – Matthew Scott, Jordan Galloway Yellow card – Stephen Harrison (14) Man of the Match – Ian Ward Whitley Bay – Kindley, Brooking, Novak, Reid, Blake (Perry 60), McFarlane, Tait (Craig Smith 71), Antony (Brian Smith 81), Davis, Chow, Rivers Subs not used – Jonathan Ball, Leon Ryan Yellow card – Paul Antony (39) Man of the match – Christopher Reid
Posted on: Thu, 19 Sep 2013 15:56:44 +0000
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