Bishop’s fell to a second home defeat inside four days, but the most damaging aspect was the two red cards for Whitfield and Jarvie, which left a mountain to climb for the majority of the second half, reports Gavin Hadden.
A positive start saw Blackford meander his way into a shooting opportunity which was tipped wide and the resultant corner saw Van Zandvliet with a header cleared off the line.
On the 20 minute mark Grimsby Borough took the lead with a clean strike from the edge of the box sneaking inside Norton’s, Flett the goalscorer. Clear chances were again hard to come by for Bishops’, Roberts blasting over before the break after Thexton initially had a half chance.
A cross come shot was chipped onto the face of the Bishops’ cross bar just two minutes after the re-start. Wayne Whitfield launched himself into a tackle near the touchline in the Bishop half with 52 minutes played, the referee brandishing a straight red to the midfielders astonishment. It went from bad to worse a couple of minutes later when Jarvie tussled with a Grimsby defender after chasing a ball, again the referee got out his red card and the forward disappeared down the tunnel without much protestation.
Despite the big advantage in numbers Bishops’ fought hard to plug the gaps but an inevitable second goal arrived on 69 minutes when the ball was put over the line by Essel after rebounding off the bar.
The away side struck the post and Norton blocked a shot to keep the score respectable despite the obvious disadvantage of being two men down. A squad already light on numbers will need to re-group for another two games in the coming week, away at Jarrow FC in the Durham Challenge Cup followed by a trip to Hallam in the league next Saturday.
Gavin Hadden
Bishop Auckland's local community newspaper.
