Newton Aycliffe 0, Ashington 4
Aycliffe slumped to a fourth successive league defeat when they were well beaten at home to Ashington.
The defeat saw Peter Dixon’s side slip to sixth in the Northern League first division table after a promising start to the season.
The first 20 minutes were fairly even with Ashington having slightly the better start.
They made that pay when they went 1-0 up in the 23rd minute. Ben Harmison used his height to good advantage, heading in a cross from Luke Salmon.
Ashington doubled their lead on the half hour when the Aycliffe defence missed a looping cross, giving Scott Dunn the easiest of tap-ins at the far post. 0-2 remained the scoreline at half-time.
Aycliffe fans hoping for a second half revival were to be disappointed, as they were sluggish again following the break. Ashington took full advantage, scoring a further two goals in the first 13 minutes.
Aycliffe couldn’t deal with Ben Harmison’s height and he nodded the ball into the path of David Dormand to head past James Winter.
Dormand added his second just before the hour when he latched onto a pass over Aycliffe’s back line and lobbed the ball over Winter.
Aycliffe didn’t let their heads go down and pressed Ashington back into their own half for long periods but couldn’t pull back a consolation goal. Dormand had a chance on the break for his hat-trick, but failed to convert.
This was not the preparation Aycliffe wanted but they now begin their defence of the Durham Challenge Cup with a home game against Bishop Auckland.
The game takes place on Tuesday (October 25), kick off 7.30pm. Aycliffe then return to league action for a trip to FA Vase champions Morpeth on Saturday.
