Stockton Town Ladies picked up a massive win in a local derby with Norton & Stockton Ancients’ Reserves side, which had a number of first team players in.
Chris Murphy’s side were awarded a penalty in the 17th minute, when former Norton standout Grace Campbell was blatantly fouled inside the area, which recent addition, also from Norton, Tiana Hudson calmly converted.
Campbell then got her on the scoresheet, after a long-ball provided Talia Korucu ounces of space on the wing, and her cross picked out the forward who beat her defender, and finished wonderfully past Kelsie Moore in the Norton goal.
The visitors did pull a goal back against the run of play before the break. Louise Atkinson, one of the better players up in tier four, pounced on a loose ball inside the box following a corner and bundled the ball past Brooke Cooper to fire up the visitors.
Despite a spell of pressure for a majority of the second half from Norton, Stockton’s defence was equal to everything thrown at them. A truly remarkable performance from the Anchors backline and goalkeeper.
As the game headed into a nervy final 10 minutes, Kaitlyn Bell sealed the points when she fired home after Norton failed to clear their lines from a cross from the left.
Stockton secured a huge three points in the grand scheme of the league, ahead of next week’s massive meeting with Norton’s first team, who sit two leagues higher in the pyramid, on Sunday at the MAP Group UK Stadium – with the winner booking their place in the Durham Cup final.
Defender Fearne Brischuk was named as Player of the Match after a monster performance in the middle of the backline.
