Ten man Bishop Auckland FC remain third bottom after being on the wrong end of a 0-4 loss to table toppers Emley at the end of last month before picking up a point on the road last weekend in a 1-1 draw at Sherwood Colliery, having been denied victory by a last minute equaliser.
However, the direction of travel continued on its natural path as the loss and draw became a 4-0 victory at home in the Durham Challenge in midweek when Bishops did to Chester-le-Street what the league leaders had done to them ten days earlier.
Emley were good value for their top of the table position as the West Yorkshire visitors comprehensively beat the battling ten men of Bishops’ with three second half goals, writes Gavin Hadden.
An opening period to forget for the two blues began with a gift of a goal just two minutes in when a Catterick pass was dragged straight to Berchil, and the languid forward who, was to be impressive all afternoon, chipped the ball over a defender and into the empty net.
A spate of chances for Emley followed with Catterick making a string of fine saves before Howard was given his marching orders in the 16th minute for a lunging tackle which caught Baldwin on the shin.
And while Bishops managed to contain the visitors for the remainder of the half, the leaders made short work of the ten men after the break with Baldwin doubling the lead before Berchil scored twice more to complete his hat-trick.
However, there was some cheer to be had a week later when the Two Blues returned from Sherwood a point better off after securing a 1-1 draw at the mid-table side.
The cheers would have been louder on the team bus home were it not for the home side escaping with a point when Oliver Monington eeualised in the 89th minute after Louis Johnson had given Bishops a 50th minute lead.
But Bishops did march on in the Durham Challenge Cup on Tuesday night when they put four past Chester-le-Street, albeit it took until the second half for them to fully assert their dominance.
Johnson opened the scoring in 6 minutes, but his, and Bishops’ second until the 55th while two more in the final minutes, from Matty Tymon (86) and Jonny Haase (90+2) ensured safe passage.
Next up is a visit to North Ferriby this weekend before hosting Dunston UTS on Tuesday night. It’s then the turn of Ossett Utd to visit Heritage Park on 19 October before a midweek trip to Garforth Town the following Tuesday.
Bishop Auckland's local community newspaper.
