West welcomed Birtley Town to the Northern Metal Recycling Stadium on Friday evening. Birtley were sitting 17th in the league, and are on the back of back-to-back victories. West, meanwhile, were unbeaten in the last six league games.

The first chance of the game came after 3 minutes, Birtley Town’s James Proctor’s shot comfortably saved by West goalkeeper Nick Liversedge. There were early chances for both teams in the opening 10 minutes, but neither side was too close to taking the lead. Just before the half hour mark, Josh Scott set up Layton Watts just outside the box, who got power behind his shot, but it was straight at the Birtley Town goalkeeper, Alfie Gordon. Only a few minutes later, Joey Hope played a ball behind to Scott. He set up Watts again, who’s low strike went narrowly wide. There was a good chance for the visitors on 35 minutes, a header following a corner from the left which missed the target. 5 minutes after that opportunity, it was West’s turn for a set piece chance, with Scott heading wide. As the half-time whistle blew, both teams had both canceled each other out in what was a little bit of a scrappy affair.  

The second half livened up with West and Birtley both looking to take the lead. West made a change just before the hour mark, Adam Mitchell replacing Jermaine Metz. Josh Scott was again involved in creating an opportunity, making a run down the left and receiving the ball, he laid it off to Watts, who was tackled as he went to strike. The first goal of the game came on 68 minutes. Birtley Town’s Sam Dinsley did well to find Matthew Ward, who drove forward past the West defense, before beating goalkeeper Liversedge. West made another change on 72 minutes as Luke Bailey replaced Charlie Wood. And three minutes later, West equalised. Anthony Bell beat two Birtley players, cut inside and unleashed an unstoppable strike from 25 yards, 1-1. Alfie Conway replaced Layton Watts with 10 minutes to go as both teams looked to get the winner. The last meaningful chance of the game came when the ball came out to the edge of the Birtley 18 yard box following a corner, and Luke Bailey drilled a low shot just wide.

Manager Gary Forrest gave his thoughts on performances during the past month which have resulted in four consecutive league draws. 

“It has been a frustrating month, if I’m honest with a string of draws. We feel we have dropped 8–9 points from winning positions. The positive is that we have become a very hard team to beat, but we need to learn to kill teams off when we have the momentum. The decision-making and quality in the final third hasn’t quite been there this month, but that will turn as there is too much quality in the team in that area of the pitch. We also have a tendency to switch off during games for short spells, and we seem to get punished every time. However, with a break in mid week games, we can now work on things in training.”

Full-Time: West Auckland Town 1-1 Birtley Town

Competition: Northern League Division One

Attendance: 130

Match Report by Phil Dodds. 
Photos by Phil Sage.