Northern League: Hotchkiss won't be too hard on Easington Colliery after Whitley Bay loss
Olly Hotchkiss reflects on Easington Colliery’s defeat at Northern League Division One rivals Whitley Bay.
Easington Colliery manager Olly Hotchkiss insisted he ‘can’t be too downbeat’ after his side fell to an agonising late defeat against Whitley Bay.
The Colliers have enjoyed an outstanding opening two months to the season and were looking to extend a record of just one defeat in their first 12 games of the season when they made the trip to Hillheads. After a goalless first-half, it was the hosts that struck first when Spencer Ashcroft fired the four-time FA Vase winners in front just after the hour-mark. That narrow advantage remained in place until the final minute of the game when Colliers substitute Kevin Pearn got his side back on level-terms.
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However, there was still enough time in the game for the Bay to snatch all three points as winger Lennox Magalhaes struck the decisive blow in the second minute of injury-time to leave Easington to contemplate only their second league defeat of the campaign. Hotchkiss admitted he was disappointed with the manner of the defeat - but remained positive after his side surpassed all expectations during the early months of the season.
He told The Echo: “It was a tough one to take. We had two unbelievable opportunities inside the opening seven minutes. At nil-nil I thought we scored a perfectly good goal when the goalkeeper didn’t have the ball in his hands and our centre forward has headed it in. Things like that, you know it’s not going to be your day. I don’t think it was a particularly great game and wasn’t full of quality. I thought we had the better chances but ultimately, that is football. You don’t take your chances, you get punished. It was disappointing to concede in the manner we have, last minute after getting the equaliser. I can’t be too downbeat because what we have produced with the resources we have is second-to-none."
Results: Crook Town 0-1 Yarm and Eaglescliffe, Horden CW 2-0 Penrith, Newcastle Benfield 1-1 Marske United, Newton Aycliffe 1-1 Birtley Town, North Shields 3-1 Kendal Town, Northallerton Town 1-1 Newcastle Blue Star, Shildon 1-1 Carlisle City, Thornaby 3-1 Redcar Town, Whickham 3-3 Bishop Auckland, Whitley Bay 2-1 Easington Colliery