WEST
AUCKLAND TOWN V HALLEN
A week behind schedule, due to accumulated
deluges, the last-sixteen tie goes ahead with Northern League Division 1 West
Auckland playing Hallen of the Western League who have had a long trip from
Bristol. Today the weather is bright but blustery, thankfully dry, and the
pitch, though well sanded and a bit bobbly, looks playable.
The winner goes into the quarter finals, and
because of the postponements last week, knows they will face a trip to either Dunston
UTS or Brightlingsea Regent. West Auckland will fancy a short journey up the A1
whereas Hallen would no doubt prefer, if only for variety, a trip to Essex.
Despite these high stakes the attendance is disappointingly low with some
neutrals possibly drawn to the Spennymoor v Newcastle Benfied game down the
road.
The stiff breeze is blowing up the hill, so
the elements tend to cancel out; Hallen, in blue and white, win the toss and
choose the wind at their backs, leaving West, in amber and black, to kick off
downhill.
After an early foray and a corner West fail
to settle and it is Hallen who threaten with centre forward Collet twice
outpacing the defenders onto through balls, forcing goalkeeper Nixon first into
a fine save then into a good block. Eventually the home team exert some
pressure and Moffat and Campbell combine well leading to a shot from Campbell;
it’s parried by keeper Stawrowski and by the time Moffat latches on to the
rebound Stawrowski is up to block at close range.
Hallen’s threat up front is sporadic, but
Bament robs a defender on the half way line and tries an audacious shot from
distance that has Nixon worried until he sees it sail wide. However most of the
play is at the other end, with several corners and crosses coming to nothing in
the tricky wind. With a couple of minutes of the half left, Briggs swings over
another and this time Moffat is able to smuggle the ball over the line to
secure a half time lead for the home team.
The 1-0 lead is deserved but it is hard work
for West with the wind making it difficult to play through the air and the
sticky pitch making it even more problematic to play their normal passing
game. A following wind may help and the
head wind will certainly give the Hallen keeper problems, as even with it at
his back he struggled to reach half way with his clearances.
Hallen come out fighting in the second half
and early on Bament creates space for a shot, but the angle is against him and
Nixon saves comfortably. Again West Auckland gain the upper hand and twenty
minutes into the half get Campbell one on one with the keeper. Stawrowski
blocks Campbell’s attempt but the forward regains the ball and this time steers
it past the keeper – but not past centre back Dunt who, at full stretch, palms
it round the post.
Handball, red card, penalty, 2-0 as Campbell
slots it home, and game effectively over. Hallen bravely carry on with ten men
and defend pretty well considering the West Auckland half of the pitch becomes
unknown territory. The assistant referee running that line rarely gets to
sprint more than ten yards and resorts to jumping up and down to keep warm. As
expected the Hallen keeper’s clearances from the edge of his box don’t reach
half way; his goal kicks just get out of the penalty area.
Despite playing attack and defence for half
an hour West can’t add to the score and the game drifts to a conclusion that
will satisfy the home team; they have negotiated a difficult pitch and
unfamiliar opposition and are now in the last eight.
News from Dunston indicates a short trip in
a fortnight’s time for a repeat of the 2012 final; West will hope for a
different outcome this time.
