A busy August continued, as we welcomed West Allotment Celtic for an evening of Friday night football. Allotment were sitting on five points, with one win, two draws and four losses. West Auckland were looking to add to the four points picked up in their last two games.

The first chance of the game fell to West. Josh Scott burst through the Allotment defence in the opening two minutes, but it came to nothing and West Allotment cleared. It wasn’t long before Scott had his first shot on target, six minutes on the clock, but it was a comfortable for the Allotment keeper, Callum Elliot. It was a solid opening 10 minutes for West. Joey Hope played a dangerous ball to Scott, who hit it narrowly over the bar. That was followed by some good work by James Harrison, who delivered a dangerous cross into the box as West continued to press. Two minutes later, Scott hit the bar. At this point, West could, and maybe should have been ahead. With 20 minutes on the clock, both teams started to enjoy spells on the ball, but West were still on the front foot. Four minutes later, there was another chance for West, some good play by Josh Scott to play in Layton Watts, whose shot was blocked. That was followed by ten minutes with possession by both teams. West then made a breakthrough. With 36 minutes gone, West broke down the left, the ball ricocheted around the penalty area, before Alfie Conway was on hand to smash it past the keeper. 1-0. A deserved lead which was increased only five minutes later. West Allotment had a chance of their own, but the home team made a counter-attack which presented Josh Scott the chance to find the target. West went in at half-time with a deserved 2-0 lead.

The second half started much more even. Mackenzie Sharpe hit a shot from 25 yards for the visitors, which was tipped over by West keeper Liversedge. This was followed by another sustained period of possession by West. More great work by Harrison created a chance for Watts. That was followed by a corner, which was cleared by the away team. Only a minute later, there were a further two chances for West. Good work by Joey Hope, which was cleared by Allotment, and a Harrison shot which was deflected out for a corner. Again, cleared by West Allotment. On the hour mark, West Allotment had an effort blocked by Hope which went out for a corner. There were two corners in succession for West Allotment, both cleared from any danger. West started to build momentum. Layton Watts had a shot towards goal on 72 minutes, and another cross into the box by Hope found Scott, who connected, but it went out for a goal kick. Just before the 80th minute, Gary Brown pinged a ball out wide to Watts, who burst into the box and found Scott for the tap in. Scott’s second of the game. With five minutes to go, Watts was in behind again. He created a good chance which was blocked. In a very busy spell in the visitors’ 18 yard box, West were twice denied by the post. First Liam Hegarty, then Lee Hume. West unfortunate not to have a fourth. However, it didn’t take long to get another goal. On 87 minutes, Gary Brown was denied, but Scott was on hand to score his hat-trick. The match ended with a 4-0 victory and a clean sheet.

Josh Scott spoke after the game, giving his thoughts on the three points against West Allotment Celtic. 

“It was a great team performance from back to front, we set the tempo from the start and could have been 3 up in 20minutes. But we kept pushing on and got our just rewards. That’s the standards now for the rest of the season and we need to keep pushing on.”

Full-Time: West Auckland Town 4-0 West Allotment Celtic

Competition: Northern League Division One

Attendance: 181