Consett progressed to the second round of the Northern League Cup with what turned out to be an emphatic victory over Second Division Nissan, although it wasn’t as easy as the scoreline suggests.

With Stuart Kelly, Darren Grimes and Rod Butler unavailable because of work commitments Andrew Colling took over in goal with Ian Davison switching to the centre of the defence and Roy Gordon coming in at left back.

Nissan almost took a shock lead in the first minute when slack marking left Johnston in the clear but his shot was saved by the diving Colling. But Consett struck first when they took the lead after 8 minutes. Gordon’s right wing corner being headed into the bottom corner of the net by Colin McLeod from six yards.

The home side almost levelled three minutes later following a quick break. A right wing cross picked out Bruce who chipped the ball narrowly over. Another minute on and Colling was called into action to save from Peterson’s 25 yard effort, the keeper reacting well after seeing the ball late.

It was The Steelmen, however, who doubled their advantage after 21 minutes from another set piece move. Gordon’s free-kick near the left touchline found the head of Johnny Brown and the ball went across the keeper and in off the far post.

Despite being suspect at the back, Nissan always looked dangerous when on the attack and they pulled a goal back after 38 minutes. Following a good build up Peterson found himself unmarked and he made no mistake, firing the ball over the advancing Colling.

The Steelmen almost restored their two goal cushion in first half stoppage time when Davison’s 30 yard free-kick was acrobatically tipped over by Johnson.

Half Time: Nissan 1-2 Consett

Consett should have scored a third straight from the restart. Chris Hodgson put in a great cross from the by-line but Lee Suddes headed wide with the goal at his mercy. The Consett goal had an equally amazing let off after 54 minutes when Peterson actually headed the ball off the line instead of over it following a right wing cross.

That was the last decent chance that the home side created as Consett took control when the third goal went in on 66 minutes. Good play by Gareth McKenna saw McLeod receive the ball on the right edge of the area, he squared it into the path of Hodgson who made no mistake from close range.

It was 4-1 five minutes later. Again McLeod was involved as he played the ball into the six yard area where Jeff Sugden got on the end of it. Johnson blocked ‘Suggs’’ effort only for the ball to go in off Hodgson who was following up.

The best goal was the last one which came with five minutes to go. Sugden picked the ball up inside his own half, ran to the edge of the area, where he played a 1-2 with McLeod before firing an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner.

Consett were running rampant in the closing stages and went close twice in injury time with substitute Darren Pyke forcing a diving save from Johnson and then Hodgson was unlucky to see his shot strike the outside of the upright.

The Steelmen will be away to Washington in the next round, scheduled for 30th October.

Full Time: Nissan 1-5 Consett

ANDREW PEARSON