Newcastle Benfield Bay Plastic (Away) Match Report

Opponent: Newcastle Benfield Bay Plastic (Away)

Date/Time: 12 Jan 15:00

Competition: ANL1

Result: 1 - 1

Team:
Newton, Scott (Tait), Wells, Ryan L, Stephenson, Keegan, Cullen, (Stewart), Walklate, Tarrant, Cogdon, Hodgson. Subs not used: Reay, Ryan B, Ford

Report:
Manager Wilf Constantine requested extra effort from his Nissan players in the quest for a top 3 position. Benfield Bay Plastics on the back of two good wins under new management team of Paddy Atkinson and Tom Wade would prove a very stern test for the Motormen. It was evident in the early exchanges that both defences were well drilled and in no mood to concede advantage to the forwards. Almost 15 minutes had gone before a 25yrd shot from Paul Anthony had Paul Newton palming away for a corner, the first shot on target. This seemed to spur Nissan on and Hodgson and Cogdon combined to set Wells away on the right, his cross was met by the advancing Taggart who shot over the bar, tha ball taking a nasty bobble just as he pulled the trigger. Within minutes two yellow cards were issued to Kevin Leighton and Justin Keegan, when strong challenges from behind were quite rightly punished. Benfield were struggling to compete with the cleverness of Hodgson and the strong runs of both Cogdon and Wells, At the other end the versatile Atkinson and the talented Scope were causing problems. As the game neared half time Nissan were starting to get on top and only a super save from Grainger prevented Cogden from opening the scoring. The second half started much as the first but it did seem that Benfield were starting to make inroads, especially down the wings. However with Stephenson, Keegan and Ryan looking back to their best it looked as though the Nissan defence were able to cope with everything being thrown at them. In the 65 minute the deadlock was broken when Ian Graham went past three defenders, his shot was parried away by Newton but fell to Lee Hamilton who blasted home the rebound. Nissan, visably shocked by this goal went in search of an equaliser. However this opened the game up and it was Benfield who nearly went 2 0 up when Atkinson was sent clear down the right and it was only the quick thinking of Newton in the Nissan goal that saved the day, scrambling acoss to clear the danger. Nissan brought on Tait for Wells to make it 3 up front and almost equalised immediately, Stephenson bursting out of defence, beat 3 players, played a one two with Tait before setting up up Hodgson who headed narrowly wide. With 2 minutes played of injury time Nissan eventually equalised when a cross into the box was met by Cogdon, his shot was parried by Grainger and Hodgson following up at the far post rammed the ball home. The game was far from over when the lively Cogdon was brought down outside the box. Nissan almost scored when the freekick was only partially cleared and Cogdon missed an easy chance to make it 2-1. At the other end from a similiar freekick Newton was force into a save from Leighton and Stephenson cleared. The referee called time on a pulsating match which many watching could not understand ended 1-1. Maybe the two Man of the match awards might shed some light on this, both were central defenders and both gave there all for the cause. Leighton for Benfield and Stephenson for Nissan.

Scorers: Hodgson

Verdict:

"Last gasp strike from Hodgy saved the day. "To be fair I asked the players for more effort today and they responded magnificently" said Manager Wilf Constantine. "We could have won it deep into injury time if Cogdon or Tait had hit the target I didn't have my glasses on so they can both take the blame""

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