PONT NO MATCH FOR CUMBRIANS

By Bill Gardner
This stop-start campaign continued to be blighted by the weather and only three Northern Alliance games got the go-ahead, two of them over in Cumbria and the other also out west at Hexham.

The front runners for the Premier Division title are currently Walker Central, Gillford Park, Harraby Catholic Club and Seaton Delaval in an East versus West contest but of these sides only Harraby saw any action last weekend.

After two weeks inactivity Ponteland United made the trip to face high flying Harraby who haven’t been beaten at home this season. And after clinching a 4-0 victory the Cumbrians’ record stayed comfortably intact.

United manager Jarrod Suddick decided to go for experience and left youngster Scott Fenwick on the bench while bringing in Andrew Rendall as a central defender.

But Pont were under pressure from the very start with Harraby chasing every ball and closing their visitors down. After only four minutes a poor clearance by Craig Daglish was seized on by Harraby’s Stuart Moffat. He beat Marc Dummett on the bye line and crossed for Marc Shiel to head home from close range.

Joe Dawson had a chance for Pont at the other end but elected to cross rather than advance on goal. And with the home team still looking the stronger they doubled their lead when a through ball found the lively Lee Otway. He turned Rendall before shooting clinically past keeper Michael Havelock. The pace and movement of Harraby players - particularly James Earl, Otway and Nick Routledge up front -  was causing continual problems for Pont. Otway was on fire and Havelock had to tip his low shot round the post to prevent his second goal. A clearance by Dean Gate then hit his Ponteland colleague Rendall and fell kindly to Mike Swift who fired high over the bar.

Harraby were well on top and playing some good football coupled with their spirit and determination. United’s Ford was quite fortunate to stay on the pitch when he brought down Otway. And the Catholic Club increased their lead again before the interval as a long ball found Nick Routledge on the left flank. He waltzed round Andy Rendall before picking his spot and giving United keeper Havelock no chance. For some reason the Cumbrians’ most threatening front runner Lee Otway didn't appear for the second half after leaving the pitch in apparent disgust. But this didn't stop the home team who increased their lead on 55 minutes. Routledge cut in from the left to see his shot saved by Havelock but Shiel was on hand to outpace Glen Ford and he tapped in the rebound.

Harraby were then able to take their foot off the pedal which allowed Pont to get more into the game. A strong appeal for a penalty by Pont for handball was turned down by the referee. Andrew Davidson then played in Joe Dawson and he looked likely to score but went wide to the bye line before squaring the ball to Liam McIvor whose shot was well blocked. Sean Willis also had a couple of attempts blocked by the Harraby defence but it wasn’t Ponteland’s day.

Frustration began to get the better of one or two visiting players with both Liam McIvor and John Redhead somewhat fortunate to remain on the pitch. In the last twenty minutes new signing Phillips (making his debut), Scott Fenwick and James Hall were brought on for Rendall, Redhead and Dawson respectively but quite frankly any one of the Pont players could have been substituted after this inept performance.  

In the only other top flight game, also over in Cumbria, new Carlisle City team boss Stephen Bellas, the club’s ex-goalkeeper, was making his managerial debut as City entertained lowly Murton. City had drawn four of their last five games but Bellas’s new look squad got off to a promising start by beating their Durham visitors 4-1.

With several ex-players back on board City took the game to a Murton side with only two away wins to their credit and were three goals up at the interval. Ollie Driver opened their account before Scott Priest bagged himself a quick-fire brace in the 30th and 34th minutes.

Murton rallied a little after the change-over and midway through the half Martin Peace gave them some hope, getting them off the mark with his successful spot kick. But City weren’t in the mood to make any further concessions and Steve Bell claimed their fourth goal with ten minutes to go.

The weekend’s remaining game to survive was in the Second Division and on a surprisingly good surface at Wentworth Park hosts Hexham were beaten 2-1 by Benfield Chemfica. In an untidy match involving two players from either side being cautioned, Martin Dixon fired Chemfica into a 30th minute lead when a corner kick wasn’t cleared.

In the 70th minute a Benfield defender pressured by Ben Griffiths handled in the goalmouth and Iain Strachan equalised for Hexham from the penalty spot. There were few further chances at either end but after 80 minutes an awkward bounce deceived the home keeper and Liam Naulls pounced to steer in Chemfica’s winner.
The continuing freeze wiped out the rest of the Northern Alliance fixture programme as well as outstanding ties in the Northumberland FA Senior Bowl and the Ideal Stelrad Northumberland Minor Cup. The eleven Alliance teams affected will be trying to settle their differences again this weekend if the weather improves sufficiently.