Rain from the previous two days had threatened this match from going ahead, reports Chris Orton, but thankfully the sun arrived to dry things up as Ferryhill Athletic welcomed Richmond Mavericks to Dean Bank on Saturday.
The reverse fixture earlier in the season had seen a 10-1 victory to Athletic, so a similar result was hoped for this time.
Ferryhill started brightly, but this game turned out to be a very different from the previous one, being a much scrappier affair.
Despite only having 12 players in their squad, Richmond made things much harder for the Athletic this time around.
The home side had the majority of the play throughout, with Kieron Richardson shooting wide early on.
Richardson kept at it and it wasn’t long before he got the ball in the net with a fine headed goal that left the keeper with no chance.
Alex Quinn went close, shooting over the bar on the half hour and Will Houlahan had an attempt not long after, but nobody else got on the scoresheet.
Early in the second half Adam Morland almost got a second but his shot hit the side netting. Ferryhill made things hard for themselves, having a lucky escape when Richmond headed wide with just about their only attempt of the game.
Alex Quinn then went on to shoot over the bar following some fine work from Jay Roddam.
Substitute Chris Devine went close towards the end, but was unable to bundle the ball over the line, whilst Quinn and Richardson had further chances.
However, Richmond continued to make Ferryhill battle hard, and that opening goal would eventually turn out to be the only goal of the match.
And so the game ended with Athletic taking all three points while keeping a clean sheet in the process.
Dan Pratt in goal handled everything that he had to deal with, and the Kierons, Richardson and McWaters, both had good games, but Man of the Match went to Reece Wilkinson.
With Durham City not in action, the win leapfrogs Athletic above their rivals into third place on 48 points, one point ahead of City with a game still in hand and eleven games remaining in the season.
Barnard Castle remain a further eight points distant in second while an almighty collapse would be required for Willington, currently on 70 points, not to be crowned champions.
There is no game next week, but holders Ferryhill take on league leaders Willington in the semi-final of the Clem Smith Bowl at Dean Bank on Saturday 8 March. Kick-off in that tie is at 2pm.
Ferryhill & Chilton's local community newspaper.
