MATCH PREVIEW | Newton Aycliffe v Stockton Town

STOCKTON TOWN VS NEWTON AYCLIFFE PREVIEW

COMPETITION: Pre-Season Friendly

DATE: Friday 19th July, 2024

KICK-OFF: 7:45pm

ENTRY: £7 Adult, £5 Concessions, u16 free with paying adult

GROUND: Moore Lane, Newton Aycliffe, DL5 5AG

LIVE UPDATES: @stockton_townfc – Twitter/X

There are no days off in Pre-Season preparation for Stockton Town as the Anchors make the short visit to Newton Aycliffe.

Michael Dunwell’s side continued their fine Pre-Season form on Wednesday in a high-scoring encounter with West Auckland Town, where the Anchors were the 5-2 victors.

A brace from Kevin Hayes partnered with another goal from Michael Sweet nullified a Josh Scott goal for the visitors in the first half.

Captain Adam Nicholson and youngster Jack Spears also helped stop the threat of a late West Auckland comeback to end the game with a scoreline of 5-2.

Spears, a product of Stockton’s academy, now has three goals in three appearances off the bench in pre-season. 

THE OPPOSITION

Newton Aycliffe narrowly fell short of a Play-Off appearance in their debut Northern Premier League East Division campaign last season, finishing only five points behind 5th placed Carlton Town.

After retaining a good chunk of their core for the upcoming season, including NPL East Team of the Season members Toby Pascoe and Ethan Wood, they have strengthened their side greatly with some new faces.

After announcing the signing of exciting midfielder Craig Moody and pacy defender Alex Nelson, Aycliffe showed their intent by bringing back the prolific centre forward, Dean Thexton, who massively helped get Bishop Auckland promoted into the NPL East last season. Thexton also featured in the NPL East playoffs in the 2021/22 season during his time at Shildon. 

Reliable full-back Joe Ferguson later followed Thexton to further strengthen the Aycliffe back-line.

Brian Atkinson’s side have had a similarly positive start to that of the Anchors, beating Chester-le-Street United 6-0 before a strong 2-0 victory over Shildon. 

‘The Newtonians’ were however the victim of a 1-0 defeat against Northallerton Town on Wednesday evening. 

PRE-MATCH QUOTES

Anchors coach Nathan Mulligan spoke after Wednesday’s victory over West Auckland Town by saying:

“The tests get a little bit tougher now, we’ve got Aycliffe and then we’ve got Spennymoor, so they’ll be two tough games, and if we can take anything from that then it’ll be fantastic for confidence, however results don’t really matter. 

“It’s about getting minutes into the lads and getting to play our football.”

Words by Jordan Clarke

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