SILKSWORTH ROCKED BY STOPPAGE-TIME LEVELLER
TWR BIFOLDS WEARSIDE LEAGUE: BOSS STOBBART TAKES POSITIVES FROM WEARSIDERS’ PERFORMANCE
Silksworth CW looked on course for a fine victory away to Windscale on Saturday, only to be pegged back to a 2-2 draw in stoppage time.
Only two league games got the go-ahead as waterlogged pitches caused chaos.
Silksworth made the long journey to Windscale and were the brighter side from the start, deservedly making the breakthrough after 26 minutes, when Paul Muir put his shot past goalkeeper James Dolan.
Two minutes before the interval, James Cook doubled the Wearsiders’ lead, with a strike from 12 yards.
Both goalkeepers were in good form and made some good saves in the first half, but the visitors were good value for their half-time lead.
A minute after the restart, Windscale’s Matt Sempill had a great chance to pull one back, but Silksworth goalkeeper Joe Clayton saved easily.
Less than a minute later, Sempill again came close, the ball stinging the keeper’s hands.
In the 60th minute, Silksworth were awarded a penalty, but Dolan saved well from Adam Storey’s spot-kick.
That miss was to prove costly in the final nine minutes. Laurie Black pulled one back for the home side on 81 minutes, when he slammed the ball into the back of the net.
Then, two minutes into injury time, Lewis Jolly pulled the scores level when his free-ick from 40 yards out flew over everyone’s heads and dropped under the crossbar and into Silksworth’s net. Gutted Silksworth stayed 10th, while Windscale moved up to fourth-bottom spot thanks to their great escape. Silksworth manager Andrew Stobbart said: “We are slightly disappointed to concede at the end of the game, but, overall, it was a good team performance with a lot of positives to take away.
“We’re unhappy to lose two points late on.”
Leam Rangers switched their home fixture against Darlington Reserves to the Quakers’ 3G pitch to ensure the game got the green light.
They were rewarded for their efforts by claiming a 3-1 victory.
Nathan Bailey opened the scoring for Leam after just 10 minutes, when he beat goalkeeper Aaron Skelton, and Dean McCallum doubled their lead five minutes before the break.
In the second half, Darlington pulled one back through Mick O’Connell, after 65 minutes, but the visitors made the game safe 10 minutes later, as Jordan Fraser made it 3-1.
The win lifted Leam to 11th place, with Darlington remaining sixth.
The other scheduled games were all postponed, as were the two cup semifinals, notably Sunderland West End’s Shipowners’ Cup date with Richmond Town.