Consett 5-1 Seaham Red Star: Ruthless second-half showing sees hosts past The Star
Consett 5-1 Seaham Red Star
Ebac Northern League Division 1
Tuesday 19th November 2019, 7.30pm GMT
Belle View Stadium
Doubles from Darren Holden and Dale Pearson, alongside Calvin Smith’s effort, ensured the hosts comfortably overcame Mark Collingwood’s side at a wintery Belle View Stadium on Tuesday night, despite Dan Wilson’s strike sending the visitors in level at the break.
It proved a tough evening in the end for Seaham at the home of the side who now sit second in the Northern League First Division.
An excellent second-half showing saw The Steelmen net four goals without reply to come out comfortable victors having been very well-matched by The Star in the opening 45.
It took Terry Mitchell’s men only four minutes to hit the front on a foggy, bitingly cold night in north-west County Durham.
Left-back Holden, a classy presence throughout, delivered what was probably his poorest cross of the contest from his flank but it turned into an excellent finish as it drifted over Chris Bannon and in via the far-post.
The disappointing opening only served to spring Seaham into life, though.
Richard Coulson found the gloves of Kyle Hayes after a good run and shot almost straight from the restart before the winger put a good chance wide after Wilson squared to him in the box only a minute later.
David Robinson was next to test Hayes when he played a clever one-two on the edge of the box in the 15th minute and saw his low-shot well-held by the home stopper.
Consett’s threat was still very much present, nonetheless.
A clear reminder was provided just before the half-hour mark when Luke Carr’s powerful left-footed drive from range was superbly saved by Bannon, with the rebound then being thumped against the post.
Within seven minutes, the visitors capitalised on that slice of fortune.
Coulson, within four, rounded the goalkeeper but couldn’t quite pick out a teammate with his unselfish pull-back. Come the 36th minute, however, Wilson delivered the equaliser The Star’s first-half display merited.
He fought off and escaped a marker to get into the box and then dinked a brilliantly cool right-footed finish over the advancing Hayes and in.
The striker then looked set to double his and Seaham’s tally for the night when Coulson pulled the ball back to him four minutes later.
He worked a yard as he intelligently evaded one defender with his first-touch but skipper Arjun Purewal made a brilliant and crucial intervention by throwing himself in-front of the shot that followed and deflecting it just over the bar.
The visitors continued to look the most likely. Sean McRoberts saw a free-kick from the left palmed away by Hayes soon after but that proved the last notable action of the half and Consett, it seemed, used the break to their advantage.
They re-emerged re-energised and had their lead back within seconds.
Pearson was cleverly slipped in down the left and his inviting low delivery was converted on the slide by Smith from close-range.
There was a new-found authority to the hosts’ game now and it was proving much tougher for Seaham to get out as a result.
The increased pressure told in the 71st minute when Pearson was this time the one on the end of a well-directed low-delivery that allowed him to convert from point-blank range.
Holden then got his second from virtually the same blade of grass two minutes later when Carr’s clever reverse-ball found his perfectly timed dart into the box.
Pearson rounded off the scoring in the 80th minute when a precise through-ball sent him clear and he side-footed past Bannon and into the bottom-left corner with the kind of confidence that had characterised much of his performance.
As much as it was an eye-catching and ruthless second-half showing from the hosts, Collingwood will have been highly frustrated with how his side faded after such a positive display before the break.
He’ll be hoping to see a similar level repeated — and of course prolonged — when Billingham Town visit the Ferguson Motor Repairs Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Consett (4-2-3-1):
1. Kyle Hayes; 2. Jermaine Metz, 5. Arjun Purewal (C), 6. Nick Allen (Wilkinson, 57’), 3. Darren Holden; 7. Jake Orrell, 4. Matty Slocombe; 11. Ali Alshabeeb (Ardelean, 79’), 10. Luke Carr, 8. Calvin Smith (Russell, 70’); 9. Dale Pearson
Substitutes:
12. Max Russell, 14. Ross Wilkinson, 15. Michael Brown, 16. Thomas McAloon, 17. Andrei-Vasile Ardelean
Manager: Terry Mitchell
Seaham Red Star (4-2-3-1):
1. Chris Bannon; 2. Scott Young (YC), 5. Liam Gillesphey (YC), 6. Paul Weldon, 3. Joe Hailes; 8. Paul Gardiner, 4. Matthew Wade; 7. Sean McRoberts (Dart, 81’), 10. David Robinson (C) (Waite, 81’), 11. Richard Coulson (Chilton, 81’); 9. Dan Wilson
Substitutes:
12. Michael Chilton, 14. Mark Waite, 15. Anthony Myers, 16. Morgan Dart
Manager: Mark Collingwood
Referee: Steven Lawson
Goals:
Consett:
Holden (5’)
Smith (46’)
Pearson (71’)
Holden (73’)
Pearson (80’)
Seaham Red Star:
Wilson (36’)
