Report

On the back of a difficult afternoon at Ponteland Utd on Saturday, we returned to our current second home at Coach Lane full of hope that we would be able to get things back on track. Injuries and unavailability continue however to a detrimental effect on the squad and no more did this prove to be pivotal than on Wednesday evening. A strong start saw us take the lead as George Riley volleyed home a long throw from Charlie Digby, and at that point it seemed only a matter of time before a second followed. However, a double change had to be made before half an hour that saw most of what was available on our bench have to be used early. Although we retained control through to half-time and then extended our lead after Harry Poole won and then despatched a penalty, fatigue started to set in and with players having to soldier on in a game where they would otherwise have been replaced. Nonetheless, we stood firm until the 80^th minute, but unfortunately a melee in the box saw East End head home and that had the double whammy effect of getting their tails up and increasing the pressure on us. It looked however as if we had seen it out, but then a very questionable decision in the last minute of injury time, and with significant pressure exerted on the referee by the opposition on and off the pitch, saw a free-kick put into our box from wide and the ball fortuitously dropped to one of their forwards to bundle the ball home.

Russell Ward