Yesterday, West headed to Tow Law Town’s The Ironworks Stadium, a ground with the highest altitude in the UK, situated close to 1000 feet above sea level. Tow Law were sitting bottom of the league table, but weren’t to be underestimated after some close games over the past few weeks. West were on the back of a first defeat in seven league games, losing 2-0 to Penrith last weekend. 

The sun was shining over Tow Law, and the conditions in general were ideal. West welcomed back a few players, with Gary Brown and Anthony Bell coming into the starting eleven. The opening minutes were controlled by West, and it only took 5 minutes for the game’s first goal to be scored. Layton Watts received the ball on the edge of the 18 yard box and played a ball through for Joey Hope, who took a touch, and neatly finished to give West the lead. West continued to press during the opening minutes of the game, with Hope finding plenty of room on the left, which was causing the home team problems. There was a great chance on 9 minutes to make it two, James Harrison with the opportunity, a shot from a tight angle just missing the far post. 2 minutes later, Joey Hope was fouled on the edge of the Tow Law box, the referee blowing for a free-kick. Layton Watts stood over the ball, but his effort went out for a goal kick. West then had a corner which was cleared by the home team, before Antony Bell sent in a dangerous, leading to another corner. Adam Mitchell took it short, and it was eventually cleared by Tow Law. 15 minutes into the game, Harrison cut the ball back to Alfie Conway who was standing on the edge of the box. His low effort went narrowly wide. At this point, it was all West, with no real threat from Tow Law. West deservedly made it two on 19 minutes, an excellent ball over the top to Watts, who made a run towards goal. His shot hit the post and the rebound was smashed in by Harrison, for his 8th league goal of the season. On the half hour mark, West had a couple of corners, the first created by Joey Hope, as his dangerous cross was knocked out. There was a little bit of back and forth between Layton Watts and ex-West midfielder Leon Scott, who ended up with two yellow cards. With 36 minutes on the clock, West continued to dominate possession, Harrison with some good work which led to another West corner. This was again cleared by Tow Law. There was one more great chance to increase the lead before half-time, Hope with a pinpoint cross to find Conway in the center of the Tow Law box, Alfie’s header just went too high and sailed over the bar. That was the last action of the first half, and West went in with a 2-0 lead.

Josh Robertson replaced Charlie Wood at the break. Tow Law came out fighting in the second half, and looked to get on the ball. They had more possession and were looking to create chances to reduce West’s lead. With 10 minutes played in the second half, Tow Law had two good opportunities to score. The first was a shot that was saved well by West goalkeeper Nick Liversedge. Then, a shot hit well over the bar from 20 yards out. It was much more of an even half, with Tow Law having more possession than they had in the first. Tow Law made their possession and threat count. Bailey Prudhoe reduced the lead with a finish which turned the game on its head with 73 minutes played. It got a little scrappy at times as both teams looked to get what would be a vital goal. Lee Hume, who had replaced Alfie Conway, had a shot that was comfortably saved by the Tow Law keeper. Archie Dodds came on to replace Anthony Bell on 75 minutes. Adam Mitchell had a corner kick which he sent into the box. It was met by Josh Robertson, whose header went wide. With 4 minutes remaining of regular time, West scored that all important goal to kill the game. Layton Watts made a run through two defenders and calmly slotted West’s third goal of the game. Despite controlling the first half, it came as a relief to get the third goal. Just before the final whistle, Joey Hope got his second goal of the game and ensured all three points for West Auckland Town. After dominating the first half, West managed to get the job done in the second and the result reflected the performance.

After the game, Manager Gary Forrest gave his thoughts on a valuable three points.

“Important win. Thought we had some really good performances, Liam was excellent again at centre half and Layton was a handful upfront. Great to see Joey Hope get two goals.”

Full-Time: Tow Law Town 1-4 West Auckland Town

Competition: Northern League Division One

Attendance: 83

Match Report by Phil Dodds.
Photos by Andy Mitchell.