Wooler 2 Rothbury 4
NFA Stelrad Minor Cup Round Two
Gareth McCann was left with a few bruises but his
goal-scoring run continued with a double as Rothbury advanced in the County
Cup.
He was joined on the score-sheet by James Loughborough who
also struck twice with the Reds firing themselves into a 4-0 lead by the hour
mark.
The classy number 9 has pace to burn and almost glides over
the pitch like a hare, while Loughborough’s powerful running, tackling and
shooting make him a constant menace around the box.
A red card for Marc Sagar saw Rothbury reduced to ten-men in
the 55th minute to even up the numbers with Wooler’s James Guthrie
getting his marching orders in the first half for a tackle described by
Rothbury boss Dan Herron as ‘very, very poor and one you wouldn’t want to see
again.’ He clattered into McCann with a high challenge out near the touchline
to leave the striker in a heap in the 35th minute.
Wooler’s Connor Cowens pulled two back as the Glendale side
made a fight of it, but the Coquetdalers were good value for the win.
McCann put away his eighth of the season after just six
minutes as Rothbury made a dream start. He raced onto Sam Proudlock’s ball and
evaded a lunging Ross Tait challenge before clipping a shot over the outrushing
keeper who clattered into him, leaving him winded.
“I was happy with the two goals today, but,
more importantly, the result,” said McCann after.
“I’m happy at Rothbury and love all the
lads. We feel like we did take the gas off a bit late on, but we have our eye
on the Minor Cup and we’ve just got to keep plugging away.”
Loughborough doubled the lead in the 19th minute when
a ball bobbled in the box and he delayed the shot before firing high into the
roof of the net past the despairing keeper.
Four minutes after the break Loughborough played in McCann
to grab his second and the midfielder made it four on the hour when he smartly fired
home a Harry Felton cross to cap his man-of-the-match display.
Cowens had his shooting boots on for the hosts and hit two long-range
efforts in the 66th and 77th minutes in reply.
“The win was much deserved,” said manager Herron.
“We dominated up to the hour and they never had a shot until
after then. We got scrappy when down to 10, but before that we
frustrated them, and played well.”
“That’s four wins on the bounce and a
chance to take a bit of momentum into the league next week. James Loughborough
was class to be fair, so were Tony (Brown) and Kyle (Smith) as the midfield
trio. They made us really dominate possession well.”
The Reds’ best performances in the Minor Cup have seen them
reach the quarter-finals of Northumberland’s biggest competition in 1974/75 and
1992/93. The hope among the players and officials at Armstrong Park is that they
can at least match that achievement this term.
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