Bishop Auckland v Newcastle Benfield

Recap

Bishops started from where they left off last weekend against Bridlington to produce a sublime display of controlled attacking football which swept aside Newcastle Benfield.

Thexton had already come close with a glancing header and then a side-footed effort from point-blank range that was saved by Marrs by the time the forward did open the scoring on 13 minutes.  Some great play between the lines saw Johnson feed the ball into Howard who dinked a pass over the defence for Thexton to plant a header into the corner.  Just three minutes later a Gott free kick found its way to Johnson who found half a yard to ping a shot across the keeper and in off the post.

Great work from Giles down the left saw his effort deflected onto the crossbar and the the wide-forward man was unlucky not to gain a penalty when he appeared to be hacked down in the box after another faultless passing moved carved Benfield open.  However, the visitors caught the Bishops on the hop moments later with a rare attack which Jay Errington finished well to reduce the deficit.

This only sparked Bishops into going after a third goal with the excellent Giles twisting and turning a defender before steering in a shot under the keeper with 44 minutes on the clock.

Just five minutes of the second half played and it was Johnsons turn to display a turn of pace to beat a defender and place a cross perfectly on the head of Thexton for his brace.  Bishops continued to give a masterclass in ball retention and a Bartliff chip for Giles saw the striker poke the ball just wide of the on-rushing keeper then further chances were spurned by Gott and Thexton.

Thexton squeezed in for his second Bishops’ hat trick with 15 minutes remaining, Johnson grabbed his second of the night with a tap-in from a Burlace pass and Bartliff got a goal his performance deserved when he guided in a side-footed effort from Giles’s clever pass.  The scoreline in no way flattered the two Blues with everyone on top of their game.

Match report by Gavin Hadden