Recap
W Auckland: Guthrie, Cobain, Hegarty, Thompson, Mitton, Bennett, Scott, Noble, Fryatt, Blinco, Nicholson
B Auckland: Liversedge, Roddam, Bythway, Callaghan, Milburn, Lavery, Garbutt, Waters, Winstanley, Whitfield, Burnicle
‘Non-league day’ and a warm sunny afternoon helped swell the crowd for the third ‘Auckland derby’ of the season with Bishops hoping it was third time lucky. Attacker Wayne Whitfield gave the two blues a welcome boost up front as he returned after several weeks out injured and he came the closest to opening the scoring with a free kick which flashed wide of the left hand post in a tight and tense start to the game. The home side were dealt a blow midway through the half as former Bishop’s captain Andre Bennett was helped off the field following a knee injury.
On 41 minutes Adam Burnicle went after a loose ball on the edge of the six yard box and just got ahead of Guthrie to roll the ball into the ‘West’ net to the delight of the sizeable contingent of away support behind the goal. The home side had largely struggled for any rhythm which meant Nick Liversedge had a relatively comfortable half watching on from the bottom of the slope. HT 0-1.
Within 15 minutes of the re-start ‘West’ introduced Mitchell and Jackson from the bench to try and add some attacking impetus and this seemed to work as on 62 minutes, Blinco flashing a cross shot across the goal line. Liversedge was then called into action as he made a save from Jackson, before the home side were given a chance to level when they were awarded a penalty after a Bishops defender was adjudged to have handled in the area. In what could prove to be a priceless moment in Bishops fight to stay in the division, Liversedge produced an excellent low save to beat out Blinco’s spot kick.
With 10 minutes remaining ‘West’ were then forced to play out the game a man short due to another injury. Whitfield made space down the right and crossed for Coleman to finish the game off, but the striker could not quite direct the ball on target which made for a nervy 5 minutes of added on time. Whitfield was again involved when he was kicked in the head right on the edge of the ‘West’ box but he blazed his own free kick high and wide in what was the last meaningful action of the game to the relief of Bishop’s jubilant fans and players. FT 0-1. ATT 516.
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