Football: Colwyn Bay FC boss warns of tough bank holiday

Aug 21 2008 By Tim Channon

COLWYN BAY have injury doubts over Steve Aspinall and Farai Jackson for what manager Steve Pope believes will be the team’s most difficult away game of the season at Durham City on Saturday.

The Seagulls boss went to watch Durham’s 1-0 win over Wakefield on Tuesday night and commented: "They could have scored 11. They tore Wakefield apart and look a very good side with great pace on their 3G artificial pitch."

Aspinall is struggling with an ankle injury while Jackson looks certain to miss the game after having to come off with an abdominal injury which physio Colin Jackson fears could be a hernia, in last Saturday’s 2-1 win over Garforth Town.

The Seagulls have Matt Parry, who played on loan for Ruthin last weekend, and new signing Chris Senna available as possible replacements, but the manager says he won’t make a decision until late in the week.

"We’ve got two tough games in three days over the bank holiday and we will need to use the whole squad," he said.

"I expect a few players to be feeling sore after playing on Durham’s 3G pitch on Saturday.

"We used to train on one at Telford and I hated it. It can really jar your limbs and we may have to rest one or two for Monday’s game against Woodley Sports (3pm)."

An injury time penalty by Steve Aspinall, After Dean Caning had been felled in the box, gave the Seagulls their 2-1 victory last Saturday.

They led with a 32nd minute headed own goal by Garforth's Wayne Harratt from an Aspinall free kick, but conceded a headed equaliser by Harratt from a corner straight after Jackson had gone off injured and Neil Coverley had taken over in goal.

Harratt's topsy-turvy game then saw him red carded for a two-footed tackle and Colwyn Bay hit the bar from corner as they pressed for a winner.

"Heads could have gone down after their goal, but the players showed great character to come back and win it," said delighted manager Steve Pope.

"We've instilled on the players to keep going for the full 90 minutes and they did that and got the reward, but we made it hard for ourselves. We got through them three times in the first half but failed to finish and we have to kill games off when we get chances like that."

Dean Canning shot over the bar when he was played in by Karl Frost and had a shot saved at full stretch by Garforth keeper Gavin Phillips, who also blocked two efforts from Rob Hopley in one-on-one situations.

Phillips was relieved, however, to see a lobbed shot from the halfway line by Aspinall land on top of the net with the keeper out of his ground after a clearance kick from the edge of his area.

Hopley and Canning were a handful for the Yorkshire side in a hectic game, while Robbie Williams worked hard in midfield, but there were some anxious moments for the Seagulls who were fortunate that the Yorkshire side missed the target with a couple of clear cut chances.

Neil Coverley was disappointed to concede the goal after taking over from the injured Jackson: "I've played in goal three times before and that's the first goal I've conceded!"

News of Saturday’s game at Durham will appear on Saturday evening on Tim Channon’s sporting scene blog.