Seaham Red Star 2-4 Bishop Auckland: Johnson brace helps The Bishops overcome unfortunate hosts
Seaham Red Star 2-4 Bishop Auckland
Ebac Northern League Division 1
Saturday 30th November 2019, 3pm GMT
Ferguson Motor Repairs Stadium
First-half strikes by Michael Hoganson and James Fairley, alongside Andrew Johnson efforts either side of the break, were enough to earn Ian Chandler’s side the three points at the Ferguson Motor Repairs Stadium on Saturday afternoon, despite Dan Wilson equalising early and Michael Chilton notching another late on for the constantly threatening Star. It was a result that kept the home side 19th in the division and lifted the visitors to 8th.
“We’ve just been very wasteful in-front if goal, we’ve created the better chances,” reflected Seaham boss Mark Collingwood.
“They’ve been more clinical than what we’ve been, they’ve had a little bit more luck than what we’ve had but, in fairness to them, they’ve probably earned their luck.
“But that could have finished 7-7 today if I’m being honest with you and 4-2 sounds like we’ve been beat comfortably, that wasn’t the full story of the game.”
The contest was certainly an end-to-end one, with the signs there early as Dan Wilson, in the 7th minute and Kyle Morris, in the 10th, both narrowly missed the target at opposite ends.
Michael Hoganson didn’t three minutes later though. A free-kick was played short to the Bishop skipper 25-yards from goal and he set himself before drilling a low left-footed shot into the bottom-right corner.
But Seaham responded impressively. Within two minutes, Wilson latched onto a flick-on in the box and sent a deflected left-footed shot over Nick Liversedge and into the net.
Still, the game refused to calm down. Come the 17th minute, Kyle Fryatt was brought down at the other end by Daniel Hawkins.
Referee Graeme Hopper pointed to the spot and Johnson coolly converted the spot-kick into the bottom-left corner, sending Chris Bannon the wrong way.
The Star went in search of another swift reply, but the visitors utilised the space left behind to maximum effect when they countered in the 21st minute.
An excellent diagonal pass would have sent them through but for a superb recovery challenge by a Seaham defender, yet Fairley ensured it didn’t matter as he sent the loose-ball over Bannon and into the top-right corner with a perfectly measured first-time lob.
The hosts remained unwilling to stop knocking on the door, though. Anthony Myers volleyed narrowly over in the box in the 28th minute, while it was the offside flag that denied them a goal in the 36th.
Chilton then saw a point-blank attempt cleared off the line just a minute later after an intelligent Wilson knock-down, with that proving the final action of a frantic half.
The second-period picked up the baton. Myers sent a long-range drive narrowly wide of the bottom-left corner in the 52nd minute, but Bishop struck again in the 54th.
Fryatt was given too much room from a short corner with his inviting cross headed goalwards by Johnson and — via a deflection — it looped into the top-left corner.
Chilton almost got the hosts back to within two moments later but his well-directed 25-yard free-kick towards the bottom-right corner was sharply kept out by Liversedge.
The Star kept pushing, even with the game now taking a slightly more settled shape. They forced their way through the visitors’ rearguard in the 72nd minute but found Liversedge in familiarly imposing form as Morgan Dart, Wilson and Hawkins were all denied by a combination of saves and defensive blocks.
“I think he’s been the difference between the two teams over the 90 minutes, he’s been fantastic,” was Collingwood’s assessment of the visiting stopper’s performance.
Chilton did find a way past him seven minutes later, however. Substitute Jaden Cahill-Taylor’s cross from the left took Liversedge and most of his defence out of the game, with the striker doing well to reach it on the stretch at the far-post and force it home.
Another offside flag in the 81st minute prevented the Seaham recovery going up another gear when they had the ball in the net again. But that, along with Wilson coming close in the 87th minute and Liversedge having to make another good stop in the 88th, simply reflected the refusal to give in throughout the home ranks on the day.
The game’s final opening then saw Bannon make a good stop from Fairley in stoppage-time.
Despite the result, Collingwood was evidently hopeful that much of what he’d seen would serve his side well if replicated in Tuesday night’s visit of Thornaby and beyond:
“It’s luck, it’s fine margins but the biggest disappointment’s the result and the defending as a team.
“But if we can put that effort and commitment into the rest of the season we’ll win more than what we lose.”
Seaham Red Star (3-5-2):
1. Chris Bannon; 4. Ryan McKinnon, 6. Anthony Myers (Cahill-Taylor, 76’), 5. Liam Gillesphey (C); 2. Daniel Hawkins, 8. David Henderson (YC) (Waite, 76’), 11. Matthew Wade (Dart, 64’), 7. Paul Gardiner (YC), 3. Joe Hailes; 10. Michael Chilton, 9. Dan Wilson
Substitutes:
12. Matthew Tumilty, 14. Mark Waite, 15. Morgan Dart, 16. Jaden Cahill-Taylor, 17. Aaron Steavens (GK)
Manager: Mark Collingwood
Bishop Auckland (4-2-3-1):
1. Nick Liversedge; 2. Ryan Robinson, 5. Thomas Bott, 4. Darren Richardson, 3. Michael Hoganson (C); 7. Kyle Morris (Hart, 84’), 6. James Fairley; 8. Kyle Fryatt (YC), 10. Jamie Tumilty (Nixon, 89’), 11. Jackson Waller; 9. Andrew Johnson (Winn, 71’)
Substitutes:
12. Aiden Hart, 14. Regan Nixon, 15. Christopher Winn, 16. Kieran Parnaby, 17. Benjamin Chandler
Manager: Ian Chandler
Referee: Graeme Hopper
Goals:
Seaham Red Star:
Wilson (15’)
Chilton (79’)
Bishop Auckland:
Hoganson (13’)
Johnson (18’) (pen)
Fairley (21’)
Johnson (54’)
