Ten-man Ferryhill Athletic produced a superb battling second-half performance in their third game of the week to earn a well-deserved 2-2 draw on Friday evening at Waterhouses against in-form Esh Winning & Deerness Valley, writes Chris Orton.

Due to the bad weather it was touch and go if the match would go ahead, but the wind and rain died down and remained at an acceptable level for the players and spectators. As the old football cliche goes, this was a game of two halves, with the home side playing better in the first and the away side in the second.

Ferryhill began brightly with good efforts from Matthew Agar and Kieron Richardson, and some excellent running from Ellis Hare. The visitors managed to hold off the home side until the half hour when Esh’s Sean Young scored, with Sam Horner adding a second a couple of minutes later. It looked like the game was over already by this point, but there were a couple more Ferryhill attempts before the break with Agar shooting over, Richardson being presented with a good chance and Deacon Simpson’s shot also being saved.

The second half was a different affair entirely however, albeit Athletic were reduced to ten men after an incident as the sides left the field at the break. But despite Esh Winning & Deerness Valley’s impressive first half play, Ferryhill bounced back with a resilient performance and never stopped battling. The half-time team talk obviously had an effect, as the depleted away team kept going with some great passing play. Athletic were awarded a penalty for a foul in the box, but Agar put his shot just over the bar. Ferryhill were playing very well, with good efforts on goal coming from Kieran Gillham and Simpson, with the entire team working hard for each other. A second penalty was given to Ferryhill and this time Richardson stepped up to cooly slot it home.

Esh continued attacking and Finlay Colwell was required to make a good save when he tipped a shot over the bar. The home side had a man sin-binned, which levelled things somewhat and Ferryhill brought on David Gibson, Niall Seymour and Michael Hogg. Their perseverance paid off when Richardson scored what would be a contender for goal of the month on Match of the Day, driving home a superb shot from the left edge of the penalty area.

The most promising thing about the game was how Ferryhill came together as a team after the set-back of the first half and managed to claw back a draw against a very good opposition. Richardson was awarded Man of the Match, but a few players could have been contenders for it, including the excellent Alex Quinn who battled superbly throughout.

The next game for Ferryhill takes place on Friday 30th October when they make the trip down the A1 to face Richmond Town. Kick-off at Richmond School is at 7pm, so travelling fans should make sure that they have their tea early.