Report

There was no Hogmanay hangover for the Stan as they saw in the New Year at Consett with a well-earned draw. Rather than a traditional first foot it was the first hand of penalty saver & man of the match Cassap & the first head of scorer Shepherd that played important parts in this New Year’s Day North East derby. It was the Stan’s 1^st visit to Belle Vue since an FA Cup defeat there in 2017. There were 4 changes from the boxing day home defeat to Ashington with Marriott, Spence, Walker & Thompson replacing Evans, Groves, Lamb & Errington. There was a debut from the bench for striker Oscar Taylor who has joined on loan from Darlington.

The Stan Army arrived on mass at Consett & had to endure artic conditions including a heavy swirling snowfall for the entire 1^st half. The 1^st 5 minutes saw the ball mainly in the Consett half as the Stan showed that they meant business although there was no clear threat yet. The 1^st Consett attack in 7 minutes saw Cassap getting up to punch clear. Soon after, the home keeper & Cassap both easily collected from balls sent in towards them. In 11 minutes, Burn shot wide as the Stan continued to press. Turnbull then blocked a home counterattack. Consett then won a corner from which they headed wide. The Stan then also shot wide followed by another attack by them being headed clear. Turnbull then partly cleared a Consett counterattack with the follow up shot seeing Callap getting down to punch the ball clear. There were 2 more Consett attacks before a sustained Stan attack in the 21^st minute. 2 minutes later, & Walker sent a ball into the home box which the keeper got down to save. Both teams were still trying to attack & in 26 minutes, from a Consett corner, Callap got down to save but the ball was scooped out of his hands although the rebound shot was blocked by Spence allowing the Stan to counter attack. In 30 minutes, a long range Consett shot was put round the post by the diving Callap.. From the corner, Callap caught the ball & managed to resist the efforts of a home player trying to force him over the goal line. In 32 minutes, a Stan attack was cleared followed by a Marriott long ball forward being intercepted by the home keeper before Hopper could get to it. In 35 minutes, Consett sliced an effort over the Stan bar. 2 minutes later, & Turnbull got back to clear a Consett advance. From the resulting corner, Spence headed the ball clear. Both teams continued to try to get forward. In 42 minutes, Marriott stopped a Consett attack. The ball from the resulting free kick was put wide by Turnbull for a corner from which the ball was cleared on the goal line by 1 of 2 Stan players who were positioned there for that purpose. Despite 1966 style goal claims from the home side, the referee accurately awarded a corner & from it a Consett player headed the ball wide. After an even 1^st half, the Stan survived a late scare to go into the 2^nd half with both teams having all to play for.

The Stan started on the attack although in the 49^th a Consett advance saw Turnbull intercept the ball but Consett’s Walker retrieved the ball followed by Callop sliding in towards him to stop him in the box. Holdsworth took the resulting penalty but Cassap dived the correct way to make a great save to make up for giving the penalty away. In 51 minutes thought, the Stan were a goal behind when a Consett attack was blocked but Walker with only Cassap to beat put the rebound effort into the Stan net. The Stan didn’t give up & Hopper sent a ball towards goal but the home keeper got to it before Walker could. In 58 minutes, a Consett player shot across the goal but there was no one to intercept his wide ball. The Stan stepped up a gear from the 61^st minute when Taylor & Lamb joined the action. Almost immediately, a ball from the advancing Lamb into the box to Hopper was cleared & although it came back to Lamb his curving shot went wide. The home keeper then had to bunch clear another Lamb effort. In 66 minutes, the Stan were back on even terms when a Stephenson free kick into the home box was headed into the net powerfully by Shepherd. Almost immediately after, Stephenson sent a curving ball into the home box which the keeper got up for but didn’t hold although a defender then cleared it. Lamb kept pressing down the left wing & the home keeper had to catch in 74 minutes. Hopper then supplied Lamb whose curving ball went just wide at the far post. Consett then had a long-range effort which Cassap stretched to punch clear. In 80 minutes, a Stephenson free kick was headed clear by a home player. It was end to end, including through counter attacks, & in 83 minutes a Consett free kick was headed clear. A 2^nd home free kick was cleared & the rebound long shot went high & wide. In 86 minutes, a Consett counterattack resulted in a corner from which Cassap put a headed effort over the bar to stop the ball going into the net. Consett then had another corner blocked & cleared. Both teams kept attacking in turn but the match ended 1-1.

It was a well-earned point as well as a positive performance from the Stan. This was helped by good 2^nd half substitutions which reinforced the team’s ability to attack & threaten Consett. They unfortunately remain in the relegation zone but are now only 1 place & 1 point off safety. There is an important match on Saturday at Grounsell Park as the Stan host Pontefract Collieries who are only 3 points above them in the league.

Kevin Mochrie

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