Three priceless points for Consett in this victory over 4th placed Durham City. At the beginning of a week in which Consett play their last three home games of the season it was vital that they accrued a reasonable number of points to haul themselves out of the relegation zone. With home games against Jarrow Roofing and Shildon to come this was on paper the hardest of the three, so to pick up a maximum return was a huge bonus. From the team that drew at Dunston Fed last time out, David Hogg and Johnny Brown returned to the back four, with Gareth McKenna and Rod Butler pushed into midfield to replace the missing Neil Lowdon and Lee Suddes.

Lognonne's shot comes down off the underside of the bar

The first half really gave no indication of how the match would progress. It was frankly dire and provided little entertainment for the good crowd basking in the early spring sunshine. Durham, if anything, had the better of the opening period and as early as the fourth minute James Platten had to be out smartly to save at the feet of O'Donovan.

Green battles for the ball

Both sides were forced into substitutions in the opening quarter of an hour as Durham's Martin Thompson and Consett's Gareth McKenna limped out of the proceedings.

The half's only other action of note occurred just after the half hour mark when Jones for the visitors had a snapshot from the edge of the area which went straight at Platten, who saved easily. Consett for their part didn't manage a single effort at goal in the opening 45 minutes and it was fair to say that as half time was reached this match appeared to have "0-0" written all over it.

Half Time: Consett 0-0 Durham

The restart saw The Steelmen racing out of the blocks, and for the third game running Consett opened their account in the opening minutes of the second half. Mark Lee lifted a clever left wing cross into the area from the by-line, and Darren Grimes was on hand to place a running header back across goal and past Dowell.

Within a minute Consett, incredibly, had doubled their lead. Again Mark Lee was involved, his ball over the top of the visitors' rearguard found Andrew Green in the clear having beaten the offside trap. The young striker, making only his sixth start, calmly lobbed the ball over the keeper and into the unguarded net.

Having gained a two goal cushion, it was clear to see the confidence return to home side and for the remainder of the half it was a constant barrage of pressure directed towards the Durham goal. Ten minutes after nabbing his third goal for the club, Green almost got his fourth when his pace again saw him clean through, however on this occasion he dwelt on the ball too long and visiting defenders recovered to snuff out the chance.

Green almost turned provider in the 64th minute when his deep cross from the left found Grimes. The Consett winger cut back inside and laid the ball off to Steve Smith who shot just over.

Lognonne crosses to Green

Three minutes later, Green again caused havoc in the Durham ranks when a Jeff Sugden free kick from the half way line found him behind the defence and with just the keeper to beat. Dowell made a brilliant save though to deny the youngster again.

Rod Butler shepherded by Jones

Consett continued to keep their foot on the gas and with 20 minutes remaining Colin McLeod almost got onto the score sheet with a clever shot on the turn which he managed to get on target despite being crowded out by Durham defenders. Dowell again was equal to it, saving at the second attempt. Soon afterwards an inch perfect through ball from Rod Butler found Mark Lee in the clear, but once again Dowell denied Consett with a full stretch fingertip save.
Then with three minutes remaining Consett put together their best move of the match which culminated in Steve Smith breaking down the right flank and squaring the ball to the unmarked Richie Lognonne. His shot struck the underside of the bar and appeared to cross the line, however the linesman, who unfortunately wasn't Russian, disagreed and the substitute was denied his first Consett goal.

From the resulting right wing corner, the ball found its way to Johnny Brown at the back post who set up Jeff Sugden, however the Consett skipper somehow scooped the ball over the bar from close range.

In the end though the home side were fully worthy of the three points. In the last game of last season Consett ensured First Division safety with another 2-0 home win over Durham, so it's to be hoped that the omens are just as good this season.

In an impressive performance it's probably unfair to name individuals but Darren Grimes in particular put in a phenomenal shift down the right flank. With youngsters Smith, Hogg, Lee, Ben Thompson, Lognonne and Green all on the pitch at the final whistle, this Consett team bears little resemblance to the one that started the season. However as their confidence grows with each game they're already starting to show signs of having the makings of the backbone of a pretty good Consett side in years to come. Whether it's too late for them to rescue themselves from relegation this season remains to be seen.