Colliers come from behind to win at Birtley

Aaron McEwan put the hosts ahead in the 20th minute, but Jack Pounder pulled the Colliers level before the break.

Pounder’s second of the afternoon 52 seconds into the second half put the Colliers ahead, before the same man had a penalty saved.

As Birtley pushed for an equaliser, Josh Home-Jackson claimed Easington’s third deep into injury time.

The win means it’s now four consecutive league wins for the Colliers, and they’ve now beaten both first and fourth in the league in the space of three days.

Simon Todd and Joe Hassanin both returned to the starting XI for the Colliers, replacing Kev Devine (!) and Brennan Ball.

In truth, it wasn’t the greatest of performances from the Colliers, but a hard-fought win isn’t something the Colliers get all that often.

Upon kick-off, the Colliers had a chance within 90 seconds. Good football worked the ball to Pounder, but his shot from the edge of the penalty area was narrowly too high.

In the seventh minute, it was Birtley’s turn to create a chance after good football. This time, a well worked move found John Sherlock, but his effort was crucially blocked.

Six minutes later, the Colliers looked to have taken the lead. Good work down the left wing found Rhys Turnbull whose deep cross found Hassanin. Hassanin poked the ball back across goal and Pounder fired home, but he was ruled offside.

Pounder then had another effort saved, before the same man and Jake Dunn had efforts blocked.

In the 20th minute, Birtley broke the deadlock. McEwan’s perfectly timed run saw him beat the offside trap and charge down on goal. He rounded Alex Lawrence before blasting into an empty net.

As the Colliers looked to respond, a massive shout for a penalty was turned away. Turnbull’s cross hit an outstretched arm in the area, but the referee said no penalty.

Shortly after, it was Birtley’s turn to feel aggrieved by a refereeing decision. Lawrence was forced to come out of his penalty area to deny a chance for Birtley, and Birtley claimed his first touch was a handball. The assistant, 40 yards away, was flagging for a foul, but the referee, who was much closer, thought otherwise and play continued.

Oliver Leedham then fired wide for Birtley, before a good save from Lawrence prevented Tony Smith who was through on goal.

Six minutes before the break, the Colliers pulled level. Turnbull burst down the wing and whipped a teasing cross into the penalty area. It picked out Pounder, whose eight yard header have the Birtley goalkeeper no chance.

Home-Jackson fired just over for the Green Army before the break, and the two sides went into the break level.

In truth, it was a poor first half from the Colliers who were fortunate to be going into the break level.

Easington couldn’t have hoped for a better start to the second half as Pounder put the Green Army ahead just 52 seconds in. Once the ball was worked to Pounder, his tight control saw him beat a few players before he found the room to blast the ball into the net.

Home-Jackson then forced a good save from Birtley’s Graeme Pickering, before the same man had another big chance. A superb one-two between Home-Jackson and Pounder played the former in, and he chipped the ‘keeper only for the ball to bounce agonisingly wide.

Shortly after, Pounder had a great chance to collect his hat-trick from the penalty spot. In a bizarre situation, the assistant referee called the referee over. After a couple of minutes of discussion, the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Apparently, it was given because Daniel Candlish was “repeatedly pushing an Easington man”. Pounder took responsibility, but Pickering guessed correctly and got down low to save the penalty.

The missed penalty gave Birtley some hope, and they then had a good spell of pressure. However, the closest they came was when a goal bound effort was blocked by Chris Pearson.

As Easington looked for a third, both Simon Todd and Home-Jackson took responsibility of dangerous free-kicks, but neither could severely trouble Pickering.

Inside the final quarter of an hour, Birtley put a fair bit of pressure on the Colliers, but the Green Army were defending well.

A let off for the Colliers came in the 85th minute when a good Birtley effort bounced back off the post.

In the final couple of minutes, it was the Colliers creating the chances. Jordon Southern had a header well saved, before Turnbull curled an effort narrowly over.

In the fourth minute of added time, a third goal wrapped up the points for the Colliers. Superb work from Southern saw him win possession in a good position and he drove towards goal. Having pulled the only defender over to him, Southern pulled the ball back to Home-Jackson who kept his composure to slot home.

That proved to be that, and the Colliers continued their impressive run of form with a win that lifts them to 13th in Northern League Division Two.

Full-time: Birtley Town 1-3 Easington Colliery

Birtley Town: Pickering, Guy, Pattison, Nick Hay, Soutar, Whybrow, Leedham (Candlish, 46′), Dinsley, Smith, Sherlock (Tanoh, 76′), McEwan (Stevens, 66′)

Unused subs: Simon Hay, Fearns-Kennedy

Easington Colliery: Lawrence, Lincoln Barrow, Ashton, Todd, Garside (Pearson, 57′), McGoldrick, Hassanin, Dunn (Proctor, 79′), Pounder (c) (Southern, 86′), Home-Jackson, Turnbull

Unused subs: Devine, Hughes

Attendance: 72

Referee: Steven Liddle