Heritage Park

Bishop Auckland vs Heaton Stannington

It was a disappointing afternoon for the Stan at Heritage Park as the current good run by Bishop Auckland under their new manager continued thanks to 2 first half goals. After Bishop had dominated the 1st half, the Stan attempted to fight back in the 2nd half but could not get any goals to avoid defeat. Alfie Gordon, especially in the 1st half pulled off a number of crucial saves to prevent any more Bishop goals & provide the Stan with the platform to attempt to make a comeback in the 2nd half. He was awarded man of the match as a result. There was 1 change from Tuesday’s Senior Cup win over Blyth Town with Walker replacing Errington. New signing Evan Blaney from South Shields was an unused sub. 

The first 10 minutes of the match were relatively quiet before Bishop had one effort saved by Gordon followed by a low Stan shot being parried away by the Bishop keeper for a corner which came to nothing. In the 18th minute, Bishop had the 1st of 3 consecutive corners with the last one ending with a looping header landing on the roof of the Stan net. In 29 & 30 minutes, Bishop had two 1 on 1s with Gordon with the Stan keeper saving both efforts. Gordon then saved another shot. In 35 minutes, the Bishop pressure paid off when a high cross forward from the right was put into the net by Steels off his shoulder under pressure from Capewell. In 41 minutes, it was 2-0 to Bishop when a long ball forward was crossed into the box & although headed away by Milburn the rebound shop was blasted into the net by Jarvie.

The Stan had struggled to get into the match in the 1st half but showed a great deal of effort in trying to change things round in the 2nd half. Halftime saw the Stan replace Milburn with Storey. After 10 minutes, Bishop forced 2 more saves from Gordon. The Stan had more of the ball in the rest of the 2nd half but could not find the back of the Bishop net. In 82 minutes, Bishop shot just wide although in the 90th minute the Stan came close to scoring, but the work of 2 Bishop defenders prevented a goal. After 3 minutes of added time, the match ended with only Bishop’s 2 first half goals to show. 

Despite a 2nd half comeback, the Stan left County Durham empty handed as they were unable to break down an organised home defence. The result takes Bishop Auckland out of the relegation zone while the Stan remain in 7th place. The Stan now travel on Tuesday to far away Lincoln United who are 5th bottom of the league.

Stan Team: Gordon; Milburn (Storey 46); Evans; Burn; Capewell; Shepherd; Johnson (Lamb 56); Payne; Pearson; Hopper (Errington 56); Walker (Deverdics 62). No cards. Sub unused: Blaney. Attendance 377. Man of the Match: Alfie Gordon.                       

Kevin Mochrie

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Bishop Auckland vs Heaton Stannington

The Stan were pawns to the Bishops as they were uncharacteristically outplayed & heavily beaten on their trip to the only league ground that they also visited last season in the Northern League. There were 4 changes from the defeat at Bridlington 2 weeks ago with De Jesus, Turnbull, Slaughter & Stephenson replacing Brass, Shepherd, Ellison & Anderson. Jay Errington made his debut from the bench after signing from Ashington.

The Stan were 1st to threaten & Lamb had a shot blocked on the edge of the box after 3 minutes. The home keeper then had to catch from a Stan free kick. Bishop then counter attacked with De Jesus getting down to grab the ball just before a home player got to it. Lamb then shot well wide under pressure. In 7 minutes, an advancing home player shot just wide although De Jesus was down ready. There was then more Bishop pressure with the Stan defence having to clear twice. In 14 minutes, after some more home pressure, Stephenson was brought down & he sent the resulting free kick into the box with it being initially cleared before the Bishop keeper saved the follow up effort. In 21 minutes, a Bishop player blasted the ball just over the bar. 3 minutes later, after the home keeper easily caught a Stan effort, a Bishop player sent the ball across the Stan goal but it was missed by everyone. Both teams were trying to attack but Bishop were having more of the ball. In 26 minutes, a ball from a Bishop corner was headed clear but was sent back in & went into the net off the post. After 32 minutes, Stephenson had a good opportunity but shot straight at the keeper. Bishop then had a shot cleared. In 34 minutes, Marriott replaced the injured Grove. In 39 minutes, the Stan defence blocked 2 shots before a Stephenson ball into the home box to Burn was cleared. In 42 minutes, things got worse for the Stan when Marriott lost the ball & a home player ran forward & shot past De Jesus to make it 2-0 to Bishop Auckland. The half ended with a Stan ball into the box being cleared followed by a home attack being off side.

The Stan started the 2nd half positively & had 2 balls cleared in 49 minutes although this was followed by Spence losing the ball & a home player then shooting just wide. Soon after, a home player broke again but De Jesus came out & got down to the ball. In 54 minutes, a Stephenson free kick into the Bishop box was missed by everyone & when eventually sent back into the box the resulting shot was caught by the home keeper. Slaughter then crossed to Lamb who put the ball just wide. In 59 minutes, De Jesus got down to save. Soon after, sub Errington had a shot deflected for a corner from which Spence’s header was caught by the home keeper. After 67 minutes, Lamb shot just wide. The Stan were looking better this half although after 70 minutes there was some solid Bishop pressure with De Jesus having to block the ball twice. The Stan then had to block again. In 74 minutes, a Stan free kick was caught by the Bishop keeper, a home player then broke forward & chipped De Jesus to make it 3-0 to Bishop Auckland. After a quieter period, Bishop shot just wide in 81 minutes. Soon after they blasted another shot high & wide. In 87 minutes, a ball was headed out for a Bishop corner from which the ball was forced into the net for a 4th home goal. Soon after, sub Ellison headed wide under pressure followed by a Bishop player shooting over the Stan bar. The match finished with a ball from a home free kick being blocked on the Stan goal line.

Despite trying, the Stan didn’t manage to get into the game against a good Bishop Auckland performance. They now hope to get back to winning ways next Saturday when they host Stocksbridge Park Steels.

Kevin Mochrie

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Bishop Auckland vs Heaton Stannington

Heaton faced off against league leading Bishop Auckland on a rainy Saturday afternoon at the Vest Construction Stadium in front of 398 spectators and, as expected, the hosts provided a strong test for the Stan. The Bishops started the day eight points clear at the top of the table and 22 points above Heaton, though Heaton have five games in hand.

Though the game was predicted to be a tight affair, both teams had great opportunities in the opening quarter of an hour. Louis Johnson demonstrated his pace for the hosts early though was unable to get a shot through on goal thanks to strong blocks by the Heaton defense. Hopper had Heaton’s first chance of the game after just six minutes, taking on and beating a couple of Bishops defenders and forcing a great reaction save from Catterick in the home goal.  Brass demonstrated his shot stopping ability on 13 minutes, getting down sharply to his left to deny the hosts a headed goal and bravely blocking the follow up attempt for a double save.

Johnson continued to trouble the Heaton back line, linking up with Thexton and Bartliff on a couple of occasions but all of Bishop’s shots missed the target. The Stan found it difficult to maintain possession or fashion any real chances. A 40th minute corner from Dan Stephenson was headed wide and after the hosts broke and again failed to trouble Brass the sides ultimately went into the halftime break level at 0-0.

Just like the first half, the second began with a flurry of activity. Scott stooped to head back to Brass from a Bishops cross, the home fans behind the goal briefly excited by the prospect of an own goal but Brass held on. Heaton looked to attack on the break and a promising move between Hopper and Stephenson broke down at the edge of the box. The hosts were quickly back on the attack themselves and managed to break the deadlock on 54 minutes. Johnson again using his pace to get to a ball knocked into space before crossing invitingly to Thexton. Brass got a hand to the powerful header but was unable to stop it from hitting the back of the net. Heaton responded immediately with a substitution and change of shape, Evans withdrawn for Lashley.

Johnson was played in again minutes later but a last-ditch tackle forced him to turn back and his shot was eventually blocked. There were appeals from the crowd for a penalty but credit to Johnson for staying on his feet and trying to finish the chance. Heaton had a chance to equalize on 61 minutes through Lashleybut his shot was tipped just wide of the post. Burn came on for Reid in midfield after 62 minutes played. Disaster struck for the Stan on 70 minutes as Brass misplayed the ball after receiving a back pass and Thexton pounced to smash the ball into the net for his second goal of the day. Heaton again responded, this time with a double substitution with Doyle replacing Turnbull and Sayer coming on for Anderson.

Bishops put the game beyond doubt on 82 minutes after Thexton controlled a great ball over the top on the run and slotted the ball neatly past Brass to earn his hat-trick. Heaton continued to push forward however and Sayer had a fantastic opportunity on 85 minutes. This time the Bishops keeper misplayed the ball and Sayer’s attempted lob just clipped the crossbar. Heaton finally found the back of the net on 89 minutes as Lashley picked up the ball and curled beautifully into the bottom corner. A final chance fell to Sayer but he was unable to direct the ball into the net and the match finished 3-1 to the hosts. The Stan will look to move on quickly when they face Whitley Bay at home midweek.

Sam Henderson

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Bishop Auckland vs Heaton Stannington

3:00 pm