TEN-MAN ROTHBURY HIT BY WOODS WONDER DOUBLE


 
Wallsend Boys Club 2 Rothbury 1
Northern Football Alliance Division One

Ten-man Rothbury were undone by a late Tony Woods wonderstrike.
The Reds had dug in after having a man sent off in the opening period and held out until Woods span and let fly from 20 yards in the 76th minute.
His opener, in the 6th minute, was also a special. The Wallsend man drilled into the corner of the net from 35 yards to put the famous Greens ahead.
Rothbury levelled in the 19th minute when Tony Brown’s free-kick led to a scramble in the six-yard box and Sam Proudlock fired home.
But the Reds were left facing an uphill struggle when Joel Laviers was dismissed for a foul just 8 minutes later.
The result moved Wallsend up to sixth in the table and dropped Rothbury back down to eighth, though they have games in hand on a number of sides above them.
Skipper Tom MacPherson said that although he didn’t really see the challenge that led to the red card he was told that it was the correct decision, so had no complaints.
“Although the sending-off changed the game, we still gave a good account of ourselves playing some really good possession-based football and creating some excellent opportunities,” he said afterwards.
“I feel like a draw would have been a fair result. I thought Harry Felton had his best game for Rothbury, he defended really well but also offered a valuable outlet when going forward. Having a stronger squad this week makes all the difference. Welcoming back Tony (Brown) and Mins (James Jackson) helps us to play out from the back and through the thirds,” he continued.
MacPherson also praised the contribution the Greg Woodburn had made to the side. “He was asked to play in 3 different positions within the 90 minutes and did so without any fuss and did well in all.”
But the skipper did rib the tricky midfielder as a glorious chance went begging.
“While playing inside forward and the game still level he had a 1v1 with the keeper and Chris Coe square with an open net, but he unfortunately got caught in a gust of wind and tripped over the ball,” said MacPherson with a grin.
Wallsend’s Nick Jarvis-Smith had missed a similar opportunity early on when he beat two men, went around the keeper and tackled himself, so the good-natured stick went both ways.


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