Yorkshire Amateurs 2-0 Eccleshill United

The Eagles were knocked out of the County Cup despite an improved Eccleshill performance.

Eccleshill United suffered its second consecutive defeat as the Eagles crashed out of the County Cup in a 2-0 defeat to fellow NCEL Division One high flyers, Yorkshire Amateurs as two mistakes proved costly.

Two mistakes managed to gift the home side easy chances to earn themselves a spot in the next round against club rivals, AFC Campion, but the final score didn't tell the full story with Des Hamilton's side dominating the majority of the day.

The wet playing surface provided a major assistance to Yorkshire for its first goal as they stung the Eagles in the opening two minutes. A simple cross was unfortunately not dealt with when Matt Mathers slipped on the surface, with the ball falling to Yorkshire's feet for an easy close-range chance that was well taken, despite Mathers' best efforts with his John Terry like diving header attempt.

Yorkshire looked confident following its early finish and began to cause problems down the wings, but both Scott Manning and Matt Stor stood up to their tests well and Eccleshill quickly began to get back into the game.

With Anil Singh looking confident in the middle of the park and it was his through ball the created Eccleshill's first real chance after finding Chris Lever, the returning striker turned well only for his strike to travel just wide.

The Eagles then used its height to cause issues from set plays when Mathers' header was cleared off the line from a corner, only to be followed up by a Chris Lever header which was tipped onto the bar where the ball rolled until eventually falling out of play; much to the frustration of the Eagles.

With neither side being able to carve out a clear-cut chance, as the half drew to its close a clever through ball had seemingly played in Yorkshire for a one on one, but a tremendous last-minute slide tackle by Sam Bradley cut the chance short to ensure his side stayed in the game for the second half.

Unfortunately, that great tackle proved to be worthless when another mistake would gift Yorkshire a chance to counter after Levi Maturine gave the ball away, the home side attacked in numbers. With their first strike being incredible well saved by Dom Smith, the follow up was a simple tap in that doubled Yorkshire's lead and put them in the driving seat.

Much like in the first half, Eccleshill grew into the game as Andy Cooper and the returning Jonny Irving came on and quickly made their presence felt, but a lack of cutting edge in the final third saw Eccleshill fail to create any clear chances.

That was until a mazy run by Cooper saw the midfielder spring into the box, before seemingly being brought down by the Yorkshire goalkeeper in what was a clear-cut penalty which was not given by the referee.

Whilst the Eagles showcased a much-improved performance from Saturday's defeat, the game petered out without anything noteworthy with a lack of clear chances being created as the club now focuses on Saturday's return to league football/