Recap
On a freezing night, a very unfamiliar Bishops’ side took to the pitch at Moor Lane as Chris Hardy took the opportunity to blood new players and rotate personnel. Mexican defender Kosegarten and South Korean midfielder Kwak were handed debuts, while Lincoln replaced Catterick in goal and assistant manager Leon Carling took his place in the backline.
Newton Aycliffe, who chose to select a near full-strength team, wasted no time in testing Bishops with a series of dangerous crosses into the box. Lincoln gathered well and Kosegarten cleared an effort off the line as the danger signs were clear to see. The scoring was opened just past the half-hour mark when Kiernan fired a powerful shot past Lincoln.
Fisher in the home goal had an uneventful 45 minutes as Bishops struggled to get any kind of foothold in the game, operating without much of a link between midfield and attack. Cooke replaced Gott in midfield at half time and McEvoy was introduced early in the second period for Johnson.
On the hour mark Aycliffe’s dominance was rubber-stamped as Kiernan again beat Lincoln with a low shot. As the top of the pitch began to gather frost there were three goals in quick succession in the final ten minutes; Kiernan completed his hat trick, Thexton ran through to round the keeper and tap into an empty net before Adamson quickly responded with Aycliffe’s fourth and final goal.
Bishops will now almost certainly return to full strength for Saturday’s upcoming FA Vase third-round tie away to second-division Blyth Town.
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