Barnard Castle FC boss urges team to build momentum

Wearside League Premier Division Barnard Castle 5 Easington Lane 3

Barney manager John Close wants his team to make the most of two winnable Premier Division fixtures over the next few days.

He described the club’s campaign so far as “stop-start”, but their next two games are against teams that Barney have already beaten this season.

Tomorrow (Saturday, 2pm) 10th-placed Barnard Castle travel to Annfield Plain and then, on Tuesday night, they are in action at Esh Winning & Deerness Valley (7.30pm).

Confidence should have been boosted by last weekend’s 5-3 win over Easington Lane at Tens Field but Close admits Barney made hard work of that match.

“I think everyone felt relief rather than celebration after that game, to be honest, because what looked like being a comfortable victory ended up being pretty narrow in the end,” he said.

“But what it means for the table is we’ve won five, lost five and drawn one.

“We’ve been inconsistent at best, but we go to Annfield Plain on Saturday and we can go there and win, we’ve done that once already this season.

“Then we’ve got Esh Winning on Tuesday, which will be a tough game, but we have beaten them already this season.

“You look at those games and you think there could be an opportunity there to build on Saturday’s win and I really hope we can because our form has been stop-start so far.”

Barney opened the scoring against Easington Lane through Zack Blythe but despite dominating, they were caught on the break by the visitors, who made it 1-1.

Tom Merryweather made it 2-1 to the hosts from a corner and Blythe added a third after cutting in from the right to score.

“It was 3-1 at half time but could have been 4-1 or 5-1 to us,” said Close, “but Easington also had some half-chances.

“We said at half-time we had to finish the game off or it could get nervy if they pulled one back.”

Barney further extended their lead after the interval with Blythe completing his hat-trick from the penalty spot after Leo Buckle was fouled in the box.

But Easington Lane hit back twice to narrow the deficit to a one-goal margin before Jayden Knight settled the Barney nerves by making it 5-3.

• North Riding League Macmillan Bowl, round two Guisborough Town Reserves v Barnard Castle Reserves – postponed

Darlington Sunday Invitation League Division One Evenwood Town 9 Darlington Shuttle & Loom 2

Gareth McMahon scored a hat-trick as Evenwood thumped high-flying Shuttle & Loom 9-2.

Also scoring for the home side were Liam Blighe (2), Josh Oysten, Luca McMahon, Callum Dale and Rhys Powton.

• Bishop Auckland Heart Foundation Cup Staindrop Wheatsheaf 0 Witton Park Rose & Crown 5

Division Two Barnard Castle Rangers 3 Middleton Rangers 2

Teesdale’s newest men’s team have recorded their first win.

And they did it the hard way, coming from 2-0 down to win 3-2.

Heading into their sixth league fixture still searching for a breakthrough win against a well-established mid-table opponent, Barney initially found themselves facing a familiar uphill battle.

They conceded two goals from well-executed Middleton set pieces.

However, instead of letting their heads drop, Barney began to dominate possession, raising hopes of a comeback heading into the half-time break.

The team-talk at the interval had the desired effect and Liam Hammond starting the comeback with a brilliant finish which completely shifted the momentum of the match.

Adam Perkins kept his cool to equalised with a low free-kick.

Then came the winner with Charlie Venis switching the play out to Scott Kesterton who controlled the ball before wrong-footing the goalkeeper and calmly slotting his shot into the bottom corner.

Division Two Gainford Cross Keys 6 Bishop Auckland Hospital Social Club 2

Cross Keys recorded an impressive 6-2 win over third-placed Hospital Social Club.

The goals came from Alastair Stephenson (2), Cameron Gilbey, Shane Walker, Zak Mortimer and James McGonagle while Ben Moore was named man-of-the-match.