02/12/2025
The U23’s welcomed New Brancepeth to a top of the table clash today with Aycliffe sitting top prior to KO. We had the normal late withdrawals in the 24 hrs to KO but still turned out a strong squad.
KO time and the game started with a very high tempo, with the lads pressing and fighting for every ball. A great move saw Aycliffe take the lead from a great header by Charlie Wright, which finished off a great passage of possession. Aycliffe were disciplined and on the front foot and they were rewarded when Charlie Walton finished well to put us 2-0 up on 20 mins. We limited the visitors to mainly long range efforts with the back line linking up superbly. We really should have added more before half time, but our decision making in the final third wasn’t great. HT 2-0.
Second half and instructions were to keep it simple and look after the ball with as much possession as possible. The lads carried it out to perfection, limiting the visitors to hardly any scoring opportunities. 90 mins on the clock and we switched off for a split second allowing the visitors to grab a scrappy goal, however the lads remained composed to see out added on time to win 2-1. A fantastic squad performance today against a really good team. MOTM went to Cameron Martin, who was class in an excellent back 4 performance today. Still
Sitting top of the league as we welcome Brandon next week looking to continue our good form. Massive thank you to the Telegraph at Aycliffe Village for the great scran after the game.
