Match Report: West Auckland Town 2-2 Whickham
After a goalless first half at The Wanted Stadium, two late penalties and four goals later with added time, the game ended in a draw.
West Auckland were the first to take the lead in the 80th minute with a corner from Josh Scott that was tapped into the net by Gary Brown to open the scoring.
Whickham were fast to pull the score back around after Kyle Patton managed to get past the defenders, passing to Scott Robson who buried the ball into the back of the net.
Into the first minute of added time, Whickham were awarded a penalty after Turner was bundled over in the box. Robson managed to secure the ball into the back of the net taking Whickham 2-1 up.
In the final minutes of the game, West Auckland were also awarded a penalty after Luke Bailey went down in the box after being under pressure from two defenders. Liam Hegarty stepped up to take the penalty and smashed it into the back of the net.
After suffering a 2-1 defeat to Whitley Bay the previous game, West were looking to secure a win after being level on points with Whickham, despite being three games ahead of them. Whickham lost the two previous games and were also looking to secure the win against West with Kaleb Young and Jamie Dunn returning from suspension.
Whickham came close to taking the lead as early as the third minute by exploiting their pace up front as a pass from Scott Robson managed to reach Dan Turner which managed to slip past West’s keeper but was cleared off the line by captain Gary Brown.
West’s early chances were less clear cut with Lee Hume sending a shot over the bar and two attacks ruled offside by the linesman.
The game began to get rowdy with the referee calling on both teams to “tidy it up lads.”
The first goal of the game came in the 80th minute after a long ball from Cieran Jackson who was tackled just after squaring up the shot. The corner ended in a powerful header by Josh Scott who passed the ball, which was failed to be cleared by the keeper, into Gary Brown who slid the ball into the back of the net.
Four minutes later, Whickham managed to pull a goal back around after Patton managed to clear West’s defenders and pulled the ball back from the by-line to Robson who buried the ball into the back of the net.
The game went into added time and within the first minute, Whickham were awarded a penalty after Turner was bundled over into the box, taking Whickham back into the lead after Robson secured the goal.
In the final minutes of the game, West managed to secure yet another goal from a controversial penalty awarded to them after Luke Bailey went down in the box after pressure from two defenders. Liam Hegarty stepped up to take the penalty and passed the ball into the back of the net.
