Easington Colliery continued to impress in Northern League Division One with a hard-earned three points against Yarm and Eaglescliffe.

Olly Hotchkiss could not hide his pride after Easington Colliery came through a major test to see off Yarm and Eaglescliffe on Friday night.

The Colliers have been in outstanding form during the opening two months of the season and they continued to lead the charge behind Division One leaders Bishop Auckland after they edged out Yarm at Welfare Park.

Easington Colliery manager Olly Hotchkiss (photo Konner Wells) | Konner Wells

placeholder image — Easington Colliery manager Olly Hotchkiss (photo Konner Wells) | Konner Wells

Not for the first time this season, Liam Adamson made the difference for Hotchkiss as the in-form forward scored the only goal of the game just after the half-hour mark. Both sides had chances throughout a hard-fought second-half - but it was the Colliers that secured the points and kept themselves in second place in the Division One table with their ninth win in 11 league games.

Speaking after the win, Hotchkiss praised his players for producing a solid display and declared himself ‘unbelievably proud’ of his squad as they continued to impress during the season.

He told The Echo: “It was a great win in a really tough game against a really tricky and difficult opponent for a number of reasons. They’re very good at disrupting the flow of opposition teams and we stood up to that, we were solid and we were really organised. We worked hard, we were horrible out of possession of the ball and we matched the difficult aspects of what the opposition presented us. We had had many more clear-cut chances and the scoreline should have been more because they haven’t really tested us throughout the 90 minutes. It was a tricky night in tricky conditions - but I’m unbelievably proud of my players for the way they have come through that.”

Results

Friday: Birtley Town 1-3 Newcastle Benfield, Easington Colliery 1-0 Yarm & Eaglescliffe, Horden CW 2-2 Newton Aycliffe, Newcastle Blue Star 0-2 North Shields, Kendal Town 1-1 Whitley Bay Saturday: Carlisle City 3-2 Thornaby, Crook Town 1-0 Blyth Town, Marske United 1-0 Northallerton Town, Penrith 0-5 Shildon

FA Cup second qualifying round: Redcar Town 2-4 Darlington, Heaton Stannington 1-2 Trafford, Emley 0-4 Spennymoor Town, Dunston 0-2 Scarborough Athletic, Redcar Athletic 0-1 Macclesfield, South Shields 7-0 Witton Albion

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