Easington Colliery spirit praised after dramatic Newcastle Benfield win

Easington Colliery manager Olly Hotchkiss hailed the attitude of his players after their dramatic 4-3 win against Newcastle Benfield.

James Fairley and Kevin Pearn both found the net to help the Colliers get back on level-terms after Andre Bennett and James Wilson had given their visitors a two-goal lead at half-time. Noah Millington restored Benfield’s advantage with ten minutes remaining but Ryan Taylor and Dylan Elliott scored twice in as many minutes to give Easington all three points and left their manager to praise an impressive win for his side.

He told The Echo: “It was not a fantastic performance - especially in the first-half. In the second-half, we had more output and put pressure on Benfield. We are really pleased with the character shown by the players to come from two-nil and three-down down. We are proud of them because they worked really hard and gave absolutely everything. It has been a long break since our last game so at least the rust is off and we have to say that is a very important three points for us.”

Elsewhere on Saturday, Redcar Athletic moved back to the top of the Division One table with a comfortable home win against Guisborough Town. On a day when on-loan South Shields youngster Bryan Taylor made his debut for the Steelmen, goals from Oscar Fletcher and Mark Anderson helped Carl Jarrett’s side to a 2-0 win that saw them end the weekend at the summit.

Fellow promotion contenders Boro Rangers suffered a surprise home defeat as Carlisle City secured all three points from their visit to Phoenix Park. Stuart Rose and James Dillon found the net for the hosts - but they were left pointless as an early Kieron Blair strike and a brace from Romeo Park gave City an impressive away win.

Whickham’s recent upturn in form was extended as Tony Fawcett’s men secured a third consecutive win at Penrith. The Lang Jacks took a narrow lead into half-time after Mason Hardy and Shaun Ryder scored either side of an equaliser from Penrith winger Daniel Hopper. That slim advantage remained in-tact until second-half injury-time when Sam Johnson grabbed Whickham’s third goal of the day and helped his side more nine points clear of the bottom two.