Published at 09:44, Friday, 12 March 2010

After another two week enforced layoff due to the weather, it was time to dust off the boots and get back to league action for Hexham in the Northern Alliance.

Willington Quay Saints 0, Hexham 4

A trip to the Rising Sun Sports Ground to take on Willington Quay Saints was on the agenda

The pitch was understandably showing signs of wear and the centre area could only be described in horse racing terms as heavy.

The rest of the playing area was ok and the match got under way with Hexham facing a deceiving incline in the first half.

Playing any sort of football was difficult for both teams as time after time the ball would deflect and do all sorts of strange tricks as the surface cut up across the pitch.

The best two chances fell to Hexham in the opening half, the first when Scott Robson beat the offside trap as Jamie McNamee was tracking back.

With the Willington defenders appealing Scott bore down on the goal but home keeper Carl Henderson did enough to put him off as he came off his line.

Next opportunity came from a set piece when Gavin Cox got a strong header which Henderson stopped on the line.

In a bruising opening half centre back Graeme Turner seemed to be in the wars but came through the encounters on top.

The Willington back line that had looked a solid unit in the match but Curtis Harvey provided the much needed spark to break the deadlock.

With both teams just starting to settle into the second half he chased down a defender and robbed him of the ball just on the penalty spot, and gave Henderson no chance in the home goal.

This lifted the spirits of the visiting team and not long after Curtis doubled his tally for the day.

A Scott Coates near post corner looked to be heading for skipper Gavin Cox who may have got the faintest of touches but Curtis was there before the keeper to deflect it into the goal.

Two goals in the first 12 minutes of the half effectively killed off the match.

Willington came out to try to recoup some ground which brought more space for the midfield trio of Coates, Tiffin and Gibson who exploited the extra room afforded to them.

The playing surface was still not helping either team but Hexham did not mind this as everything was going their way.

Jamie McNamee, who earlier had a half chance which he shot over the crossbar, made no mistake when a Scott Coates shot could only be parried by the keeper.

It was inevitable with such a heavy pitch and lack of match practice tired legs and cramp would take their toll but Hexham were fortunate to have replacements such as Craig Nesbitt who slotted into the wingback role with ease.

Neil Tiffin and Mark Gibson were vying for the man of the match award which Gibson just shaded, but it was their midfield colleague Scott Coates who stole the show at the end with a goal from a direct free kick which he bent around the wall and into the far corner with three Hexham players all trying to get a touch.

The referee’s whistle went soon after to signal the end of a very satisfactory result with a impressive second half display.

These three points move Hexham to fifth place in the table and with a home game this weekend they will be looking to continue their unbeaten home league record when Cramlington are the visitors to the Wentworth

Published by http://www.hexhamcourant.co.uk