NEWCASTLE TOWN 1-9 BLUES

29/4/01

The elements were a lot kinder to the boys today, and although Blues turned in a far from convincing performance, in the end they ran out easy winners.

Once again Blues had Oliver Edwards to thank for an early, well taken goal, which should have set them up for an easy win, but as in recent weeks, they tried to do too much on the ball instead of passing, and they lost their advantage.

Blues only created a handful of other chances in the first period, one of which they managed to put away on ten minutes. Oliver Edwards showed tremendous skill on the ball to give himself time and space for what turned out to be a simple goal.

However, Blues' celebrations turned sour within a minute, as sloppy defending allowed Newcastle to pull a goal back. Although this was a rare shot at the Leek Town goal, it was just reward for Newcastle for their running and harrying of the Leek Town boys.

In the second half, Blues again got an early goal, and again it was Oliver Edwards that scored. The ball fell invitingly to him on the edge of the box, and he thumped it home, for his second successive hat trick.

Ten minutes later, the ball flew around the Newcastle six-yard box like a pinball, until eventually Alex Wright stabbed it home. The Newcastle heads noticeably fell, and suddenly their running and enthusiasm disappeared. Contrasted to this, Blues could do no wrong, and they swamped their unfortunate opposition, as they added a further five goals in the last twelve minutes.

Alex Wright scored three more to give him a total of four goals, and Oliver Edwards added another two to take his tally to five.

Up until the final quarter of this match, Blues were never really on top, and although the score-line suggests that they were easy winners, for most of the game, this was not the case. The important thing, though, was the three points, and this now means that Tuesday's match against Milton will decide the league winners.

Protech Electricals and The Britannia Building Society sponsored the match.