By Bob Wood
Newton Aycliffe had another successful week which saw them climb to the top of the Ebac Northern League first division.
Two 1-0 wins – over Crook Town and Thornaby – put them on 16 points, one ahead of Ashington who have a game in hand.
The three points against Crook Town were secured thanks to an eighth-minute goal by Oscar Taylor, benefitting from a cross from recent signing Anthony Callaghan.
Although the scoreline at Teesdale Park, Thornaby, was the same on Saturday, the game was a much tighter affair and Aycliffe keeper Adam McHugh fully deserved his man-of-the-match award.
The first half saw chances for both sides with former Aycliffe stiker Craig Hutchinson as dangerous as ever for the home side.
Just before the hour, Aycliffe manager Brian Atkinson decided to make a change, bringing Liam Jarvie into the attack.
It was an inspired move as within three minutes of coming on Jarvie had the ball in the back of the net.
His goal came after great play from Joe Ferguson who got round the defence on the left wing.
His cross to the far post was met by Jarvie who headed the ball past the stranded keeper.
Newton Aycliffe have a trip to Pickering this week (Tuesday, August 23) for the first encounter between the two sides since 1990. Pickering were relegated into the Ebac Northern League for this season.
The game is followed by a home Isuzu FA Vase tie on Saturday, August 27, when Esh Winning will be the visitors to the SecuriCorp Stadium.
Kick-off is at 3pm and the club will be hoping for a good turnout as this year’s Vase campaign gets underway. The winners of this match will travel to either Birtley or Ilkley in the next round.
Aycliffe have a change of fixture on Saturday, September 3. They will now travel to Sunderland RCA instead of Heaton Stannington who are still involved in the FA Cup.
You can keep up with fixture changes by following the club on social media and the website www.newtonaycliffefc.co.uk.
In addition, Newton Aycliffe FC has a new YouTube channel where you can catch up with match highlights. Search for Newton Aycliffe Football Club on YouTube.
• The above picture, by Yvonne Wood, shows Liam Jarvie in action at Thornaby.
