Football is changing. VAR is now prominent at the top of the game, and sin bins have been introduced at lower level football. And, in the Northern League, you’ve got Sunderland West End playing at Nissan, Washington playing at Durham, and Durham playing at Willington! I’ve seen a few games with sin bins now and they may work in the future. But, like VAR, they need to be used consistently. I’m totally against the use of VAR (always have been) and I’m not keen on sin bins at the minute but it could work. Firstly though, they need clearer rules on what actually is a sin bin offence. What exactly is ‘dissent’? A player shouts at the referee and gets put in the sin bin, then another player says something similar and doesn’t go in the sin bin. At Easington, we had three or four cautions for dissent in the whole of last season. Sin bins have been introduced for dissent, and we’ve had three players sin binned already. How the Easington players are acting and what they’re saying on the pitch is exactly the same as last season, so how have we had three cases of dissent in four games when we had only one more than that in the whole of last season? I was pleased to see that no one was sent to the sin bin in this game tonight. Now that they’re playing at New Ferens Park, I’ll probably watch a few Washington midweek games. Mind, their move to New Ferens Park is certainly a bizarre one.
Match report:
Crook climb to third in Northern League Division Two
Crook Town maintained their winning start to the Northern League Division Two season with a 0-4 win away to Washington on Wednesday night.
Goals from Jake Petitjean, Calum Johnston, Joe Smith and Chris Dickinson gave Crook the win, and it means Jamie Tunstall’s side have now won three games from three this season.
Upon kick-off, Crook started the brighter, but it was Washington who created the first chance. Jak Hanson did well to get a shot away for Washington in the ninth minute, but his effort was a comfortable save for Ronan Makepeace.
The hosts then had a penalty shout turned down as Hanson fell in the area, before Crook took the lead with their first real shot. The ball was patiently worked to Petitjean 25 yards from goal, and he took a touch before drilling a fine effort into the bottom corner.
Having taken the lead, Crook went in search of a second. In the 20th minute, Dickinson did well to latch onto a rather hopeful long ball for the visitors, and he quickly cut inside before his ambitious effort failed to find the far top corner.
Efforts at both ends were then blocked, before Washington had a couple of half chances fall the way of Alex Ramshaw and Hanson. Ramshaw’s effort failed to find the target, while Hanson’s was saved.
At points in the first half, both benches felt aggrieved with the referee’s decisions, particularly the Crook bench.
On the half hour mark, things became a bit heated. Hanson tried to weave a way through the Crook defence, and he got in a tangle with one of the defenders. A bit of pushing and shoving escalated, but the referee eventually calmed it down and booked a couple of players.
Ten minutes before half-time, Washington had goalkeeper Harry Archer to thank for keeping the deficit at only one. Johnston’s pinpoint cross for Crook picked out Petitjean six yards from goal, but a superb reaction save from Archer prevented Petitjean’s first time effort.
In the 37th minute, Ramshaw fired a free-kick into the wall for the hosts, while Petitjean fired a similar free-kick over the crossbar at the other end.
Just a couple of minutes before the break, Crook doubled their lead. A delicate ball into the penalty area found Johnston, and he controlled the ball well before his composed finish doubled Crook’s lead.
Following the break, it took the game a while to get going.
Crook had a great chance to extend their lead with the first real chance of the second half in the 58th minute. A clever move worked Johnston in, but he didn’t connect fully with his effort and Archer saved. The rebound fell the way of Petitjean, but his effort was blocked.
Washington then had a good spell of pressure, but they didn’t create any chances.
Arthur Connelly then tried his luck for Crook to no avail, before Kieran Broomfield’s effort at the other end came to the same fate.
In the 65th minute, Washington’s Ramshaw was fouled in a dangerous position. He dusted himself down to take responsibility, but he couldn’t get his effort past the wall.
Ramshaw then had another effort go over, before Johnston had a couple of efforts fail to find the target for Crook.
A few substitutions slowed the game down, and as time wore on, a Crook victory was more and more likely.
Tom Gavin fired just over as he looked for a third for Crook, and it took the visitors until the 88th minute to find that third goal. Smith’s perfectly timed run saw him latch onto a well weighted ball over the top, and he charged down on goal before a composed finish made sure of the win.
And, in the final minute, Crook scored a fourth. Matty Crossen did superbly well to win possession in his own half and play a fine ball down the line at the same time. It picked out Smith who charged towards goal before playing a ball towards the back post where Dickinson had a simple finish.
It proved a comfortable win for Crook in the end, and they’re just a point behind leaders West Allotment Celtic with a game in hand.
Full-time: Washington 0-4 Crook Town
Next up for me is Easington Colliery vs Chester-le-Street Town on Saturday.
Washington: Archer, Colquhoun, McBeth (Gibbon, 71′), Hennis, Goodman (c), Hutchinson, Ramshaw, Broomfield, Quine (Colling, 66′), Hanson, Toward (Orr, 80′)
Unused subs: Quinn, Stephenson
Crook Town: Makepeace, Crossen, Gavin, Fielding, Harwood (c), Wilson, Johnston, Hume (Verity, 69′), Dickinson, Petitjean (Dunwell, 85′), Connelly (Smith, 74′)
Unused subs: Shevels, Maddison
Admission: £5 adults, £3 concessions
Programme: £1
Attendance: 110
Chips and bottle of Coke: £3.60
Referee: David Holmes
Connor's Football Travels 