Colwyn Bay 3 - 3 Bishop Auckland - 19/08/00 - League
The
Bay had to come back from 3-1 down to earn a point in their opening UniBond
League Premier Division clash against Bishop Auckland at Llanelian Road.
It took all of three minutes for Bishop Auckland to open their account for the season when Danny Mellanby ran onto a loose ball to fire a drive past Richie Roberts.
Bay
hit back with new signing Jonathan Cross hitting a 25 yard free kick over the
bar and Alun Evans also going close. Cross was on target after 21 minutes with a
superb 30 yard shot which left ‘keeper Steve Jones stranded.
With
Colin Caton and Mark Price both out through suspension, the Bishops attack
continued to cause the Bay’s weakened defence problems, and it was no surprise
when they regained the lead on 35 minutes, when Andy Howard found space outside
the box and hit the ball into the roof of the Bay’s net.
The
visitors extended their lead two minutes later when Danny Brunskill, scorer of
four goals against the Bay last season, scored with a low angled shot.
Credit
to the Bay as they battled back, and on 43 minutes Marc Limbert’s low free
kick was turned into his own net by Bishop’s Stephen Hutt. A minute from the
interval and the Bay were on level terms, when a cross from Jonathan Cross found
Alun Evans on the far post, who headed home to make it 3-3.
The
second half never saw the frantic activity of the first 45 minutes, with both
defences tightening up, although the visitors had the better chances to win the
game, with chance for Danny Brunskill and Andrew Shaw.
For
the Bay substitute James McIlvogue saw his effort from eight yards deflected
past the post and in the last minute Steve Jones had to be alert to save from
Deiniol Graham’s fierce shot.
Colwyn Bay:
R
Roberts, S Gelling, P Jones, C Lawton, B Humphries, M Woods, M Limbert, G
Roberts, D Graham, A Evans, J Cross. Subs: J McIlvogue, O Roberts, F Gibbons.
Colwyn Bay Man of the
Match
(Sponsored by Independent General Insurance Services Ltd): Graham Roberts