CONSETT slumped to their fourth defeat in eight home league games with a forgettable performance against local rivals Tow Law, who played with only 10 men for the whole second half.

On a perfect night for football, the Steelmen endured a frustrating 90 minutes against a visiting side containing four ex-Consett players, with another familiar face - Kenny Lindoe's former assistant David Hagan - in the visiting dugout after being appointed the Lawyers' new manager 24 hours earlier.

After scrappy opening exchanges it was the visitors who had the first opportunity, Michael Fort latching onto a long ball and trying to take it round Danny Staples, but his dive at the opponent's feet was enough to halt his progress, and Michael Coulthard mopped up, at the expense of a corner.

David Pounder tried his luck from 30 yards after picking up a loose clearance, but his effort flew wide of the left-hand post. Then Gary Ormston's pullback from the left byline was just out of Mattie Moffat's reach.
On 15 minutes there was almost a mix-up between Andrew Burton and his goalkeeper 15 yards outside the box, which resulted in Staples hitting his clearance straight at Ian Davison, but the ball fell kindly for the keeper.

Mattie Moffat delivers a cross

Gary Ormston hurdles a challenge

A corner at the other end gave Consett a decent chance, with Steven Huggins' kick from the left flicked on by Ormston at the front of the six-yard box and falling for David Scorer, whose shot was blocked by a defender. Ormston then let fly from 20 yards after being fed by Pounder, but it flashed over the top.

Three minutes before the interval Consett were handed a lifeline by Town centre-half Mark Salmon and match referee Paul Brown.

Pounder flighted a free-kick into the box from wide on the right, and when Scorer went tumbling in the area under challenge from Salmon, the crowd waited expectantly for the referee to see if it was a spot-kick.

Not only did he give a penalty, however, he also showed Salmon a straight red card, presumably for denying a goalscoring opportunity. Despite the two-minute delay between the foul and the unhappy Salmon eventually leaving the field, Huggins kept his cool to send the keeper the wrong way and make it 1-1.

The interval saw Tow Law sacrifice one of their former Consett contingent, Andrew Thompson, the striker replaced by another centre-half, Stephen Tobin, with the visitors obviously content to try to hold onto their lead.

And hold onto it they did, with Consett enjoying 90 per cent of the possession, but doing little with it. They played pretty football, but it was almost training ground stuff at times, lacking a killer pass or a surge to the byline to cut balls back for forwards to run onto.

Ten minutes into the half the team in red almost found a way through the black and white barrier, with Huggins releasing Steven Johnson down the right. The striker turned his defender one way and then the other before unleashing a powerful shot, which Simon Bishop palmed over. From the resulting corner, Moffat headed straight at the keeper.

Six minutes later Consett had their best chance to level, when Pounder’s ball in from the left saw Ormston hit a sweetly-struck shot from the edge of the area. It smacked against the crossbar, bounced down and was hacked away

Steven Johnson gives chase