Bishop Auckland v West Auckland Town

Recap

The sides couldn’t be separated in a very tight and mostly ‘cagey’ F A Cup tie on a sunny late summer afternoon in front of a bumper 846 crowd.

The onus was on Bishops from the start to unlock a well-drilled ‘West’ side who were happy to sit in and soak up the home side’s possession.  Despite getting into some encouraging attacking positions in the opening exchanges Bishops failed to seriously test Nick Liversedge in the ‘West’ goal.

Gott fizzed a free kick just wide, but the best chance arrived just before half-time when Thexton chased down a loose ball and as Liversedge hesitated and back pedalled the ball was chipped toward the goal line only to narrowly miss Johnson’s head and was cleared from under the crossbar by a defender.

The away side was limited to long-range efforts but did have a half chance when a ball was played to the far post but a weak header creeped out for a goal kick.

Bishops started the second half with another half chance that was offered up when Liversedge flapped at a cross but Bartliff lashed his effort high and wide from the edge of the box.

Gott had another couple of free-kick opportunities in dangerous positions with the side netting rescuing ‘West’ on one occasion and Watt worked himself into a shooting opportunity to force Liversedge into a good reaction save with the game only threatening to burst into life.

The game was played out to a conclusion with neither side prepared to gamble too much and another eagerly anticipated match-up in the replay awaits on Tuesday evening when both sides will know who they will potentially face in the next round.

Match report by Gavin Hadden