Durham City lose 3-0 to Ossett Town in UniBond Premier Division (From Durham Times)

Durham City lose 3-0 to Ossett Town in UniBond Premier Division

3:23pm Monday 8th February 2010

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Ossett Town 3 Durham City 0

City travelled to West Yorkshire with high hopes of their first points of the season, against an Ossett Town side that, before Saturday, had lost no less than nine consecutive home games and taken just two league points since their narrow win in the reverse fixture at The Esh Group Stadium in early October.

The visitors started the game in determined fashion, taking the attack to Town, but survived an early chance when a cross was only half cleared by the City defence to Pat Maguire and the midfielder's volley from the edge of the area was deflected narrowly wide with Richard Heiniger well beaten.

Minutes later and City were very nearly rewarded for their early enterprise when Kyle Wren squared the ball to skipper Andrew Stephenson whose well-struck 30-yard effort looked destined for the top corner until Liam Sutcliffe produced the save of the match to turn the ball around the post at full stretch.

Much against the run of play Town eventually went in front, after 22 minutes, when David Watson whipped in a low cross from the left to allow striker Paul Sykes, on-loan from Halifax Town, to steer the ball beyond Heiniger from ten yards out.

With Durham visibly deflated by the setback, Town then had perhaps their best spell of the game, with firstly Andrew Lee having a left-foot free-kick deflected narrowly wide, Sykes putting a glancing header wide from another left-wing cross, this time from Andrew Catton, and finally Watson twisting to send a left-foot volley wide of the post following good work from Catton and Luke Malcher.

However, City bounced back and should have drawn level ten minutes before the break when Josh Home-Jackson latched on to a superb long ball from Gareth Ayers to drill in a low right-foot effort which flashed narrowly wide of Sutcliffe's left hand post.

Matthew Plant was only inches away from turning in yet another left wing cross from Catton before the home side doubled their lead a minute before the break when Plant headed down a Ross Hardaker free-kick to allow McGuire to force the ball home from close range.

Hardaker was narrowly wide with another free-kick, in the early minutes of the second-half, while City substitute Elliot Cutts did well to hack a Plant header off the line, from a Lee corner, just before the hour mark before Town's Lee glanced a shot wide of the far post, from a McGuire chip.

With Ossett unable to kill off the game, and City eventually regaining their composure, Lee Collings' side still looked as though they believed they could get something from the game in the final twenty five minutes.

On 69 minutes Cutts popped up at the other end to send in Home-Jackson whose shot beat the advancing keeper only to drop narrowly behind while ten minutes later the same player put a left-foot volley narrowly wide of the far post with Town keeper Sutcliffe scrambling desperately along his line.

As the game entered its final ten minutes Town substitute Daniel Exley missed a glorious opportunity to put the Ingelfielders three-up when he headed a pin-point cross from Hardaker wide from inside the six-yard box, when it looked easier to score.

However, Town were not to be denied and two minutes from time the City defence failed to deal with a right-wing move which ended with Catton firing in another low cross which Lee Mohammed bundled over the line from close range to finally kill off any lingering hopes City had of getting anything from their closest relegation rivals.

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