Arngrove Northern League
08 December 2007
City deflected on course
by Ken Milgate

Durham City 5
English 38
Toft 47, 53
Dodds 55
Appleby 84

West Auckland 1
Fairhurst pen 22

A deflected goal-bound shot from Tommy English cancelled out an earlier reverse and set City up for a ten-minute second-half blitz and a convincing victory.

Lee Hutton’s busy afternoon began on four minutes when he positioned himself well to smother an English left-foot drive from just inside the area, but he should have been fishing the ball from the back of his net three times in the next three minutes: Jimmy Farrell’s outstretched leg was marginally short of making contact with a whipped-in English cross before the same provider presented Steven Richardson with an easier target, but Speedy went for placement when a first touch might have been enough; Richardson was clear through in pursuit of a Keith Graydon right-wing pass, but his final shot raked wide of the far post.

John Mohan made a clean save to thwart Danny Key on the quarter hour as West mounted a counter, and three minutes later, only a by-line tackle by Richard Smith got Mohan out of jail as he went awol.  West’s mini-siege continued and Mohan clawed away to safety a Danny Richmond free-kick.

It was West who made their pressure moments count when Brian Fairhurst sent Mohan the wrong way from the penalty spot after hands on shoulders had earned the referee’s displeasure.

Undaunted, City soon bounced back and Lewis Dodds delivered a cracking ball to John Toft who committed Hutton to a good save, Richardson getting underneath the dropping ball from the corner and ballooning over the bar.

City’s equalizer owed much to good fortune as English’s fierce drive took a wicked deflection to deceive the advanced Hutton, but their second-half display was down to self-engineered prowess.

After Smith had strained every sinew to deny Dale Jardine with a desperate tackle, City’s next attack resulted in a goalmouth scramble with Toft the grateful recipient of the loose ball to put City ahead.

A minute later, Farrell’s shot on target lacked sufficient power, but Toft’s second on 53minutes was an absolute cracker as he turned inside his marker on the edge of the area before unleashing the left-foot screamer par excellence to beat Hutton in the far top corner.

Two minutes later, Dodds tapped in after Richardson had rounded off a twenty-five-yard run with a shot that struck the base of the post.

City were in no mood to settle for a three-goal cushion, and both Stephen Capper kept up the pressure with a distance shot just off target and a quality left-wing cross respectively.

Andy Appleby replaced the injured Farrell on 74minutes, the City player exiting to warm applause for his afternoon’s endeavours.

Appleby it was who completed the scoring on 84minutes when he slid in another quality left-wing cross from the now-on-song English, who went close again in stoppage time with a beautifully executed curler that went just the wrong side of the far post.

Toft was denied a hat-trick-scoring debut when he slipped in the act of shooting after shimmying his way past defenders.

West battled throughout, but once City had gone ahead they produced some quality, flowing, passing football.  The silence of the tongues was complemented by the volume of City’s elegant football.

Durham City – Mohan, Harrison, Capper, Dodds, Bowes, Smith (R), Toft, Graydon (Butler 88), Richardson (Smith (C) 79), Farrell (Appleby 74), English

Subs not used – Caffry, Morris

Man-of-the-Match – Lewis Dodds

West Auckland – Hutton, Heckley, Fairhurst (Bromley 62), Maddison, Middleton, Nicholson, Richmond (Lowdon 62), Key, Robinson (Owen 75), Jardine, Stewart

Man-of-the-Match – Lee Hutton