Ferryhill Athletic lost their first game of the season going down 3-1 away to Hetton Juniors in the Durham Minor Cup, reports Fraser Reynolds.
Play was fairly even early on before the home side took the lead on 15 minutes. Shortly afterwards Richardson thought he had equalised when his fierce shot struck the underside of the bar and bounced down. However, the referee waived play on much to the frustration of the Ferryhill players.
By now Hetton were fully in control with their wide men stretching the Athletic defence and they scored another two well-taken goals. In the 35th minute things went from bad to worse for the visitors when Kieron Gillham was shown a straight red card for bad language.
In the blistering heat, half time couldn’t come soon enough and ten man Ferryhill had to regroup. They battled hard and never gave up in the second period with both sides creating chances.
Athletic were thrown a lifeline with ten minutes remaining when Jay White scored with a powerful header, but it was a case of too little too late with Hetton progressing through to the next round of the competition. Man of the Match was Kieron Richardson.
It is back to League duty next Saturday with the visit of Consett Reserves, kick-off 2.30 pm at Dean Bank.
Meanwhile, the club has also reported that our match reporter and Ferryhill Athletic chairman, Fraser, has just been presented with a special award from Durham County FA for clocking up 50 years of service in football administration.
“Everybody at Ferryhill Athletic really values Fraser for his hard work and dedication – all of which is unpaid,” said a spokesperson.
Ferryhill & Chilton's local community newspaper.
