Ebac Norther League Division 1
Ryhope CW 1
West Auckland Town 3
WEST came from behind to record their first three points of the season.
As with the season opener, West were slow out of the blocks and keeper Shane Bland had already made a good save before James Ellis side-fotted home from a corner on nine minutes.
However, this time West regrouped and were awarded a penalty when Anthony Bell was brought down inside the area.
Skipper Nathan Fisher stepped up to rifle the ball into the top right corner to level the scores.
And it wasn’t long before West went ahead. Adam Mitchell burst forward and delivered a great cross towards the back post for Amar Purewal to finish.
Before the interval, West almost grabbed a third when Bell forced a fine reaction stop from home keeper Jonathan Ball.
The game was wrapped up in the 73rd minute when Fisher converted a rebound after Ball had initially parried away Bell strike from the edge of the box.
In a flurry of late opportunities, Fisher was denied a hat-trick at close range and Bell’s 25-yard strike was tipped just over the crossbar.
Next up for West is a trip to Washington for an FA Cup Extra Preliminary round clash on Saturday, August 11 (kick-off 3pm).
Ryhope CW: Ball, Nicholson, Gordon, Bott, Riding (c), Woods (Cocks 39), Chapman (Weirs 62), Skidmore, Home-Jackson (Rae 62), Bird, Ellis
Goal: Ellis (7)
West Auckland: Bland, Hegarty, Cobain, Parker, Price, Snaith, Mitchell, Dodds (McKeown 85), Fisher (c), Purewal, Bell
Goals: Fisher (18, 73), Purewal (22)
