DURHAM COUNTY FA SQUAD 2021/22

The team usually play in the Association of Northern Counties with twelve of the County FAs however due to Covid the majority decided not to enter for the 2021/2022 season, this left Durham, Cheshire and Northumberland forming a group of three and agreeing to play home and away.

Durham began their campaign with an away fixture against Cheshire on Saturday 4th December 2021 and on a day where there were very strong winds and heavy rain, Jim Thompsons squad came away with a   5 – 1 victory thanks to goals from Liam Dunn, Brennan Fitzpatrick, Elliott Judson and a double from Ryan Wright.

We followed this up with an away game at Northumberland FA on Friday 4th February 2022 and in an excellent match which saw two good football teams playing the honors were shared in a 1 – 1 draw with Jack Maskell notching for Durham.

On Friday 25th February 2022 the return fixture with Northumberland was played at Nissan Sports and Leisure Complex.

The game kicked off at 7:30pm and it didn't take long for Durham FA to take the lead when in the 3rd minute Ryan Wright was end of a cross following good wing play to put Durham FA 1-0 up.

12 minutes later the same build up play resulted in Ryan grabbing his second making it 2 – 0.

In the 18th minute Northumberland attacked and got back into the game after a defensive error allowed them to cut the deficit to 2 – 1.

The fast-moving forwards of Durham were a constant danger to the visitors and in the 23rd minute Wright broke free and advanced into the penalty area before being tripped and awarded a penalty. Wright stepped up to the spot kick and placed it firmly into the net at the goalkeeper’s right-hand side, scoring his hat trick and taking his overall tally to five in three games for the County.

Durham went in at half time leading 3 – 1.

Early pressure from Durham in the second half paid off when a 40-yard pass from Harry Petterson was well controlled and placed to the keepers left by Sam Peat to increase the lead.

Northumberland piled on the pressure, but the Durham midfield and defence remained solid until the 77th minute when Oliver Cresdee broke clear and placed his shot into the bottom corner.

The game was switching end to end and Durham secured the three points in the 82nd minute when Sam Peat broke free and notched his second.

The victory retained Durham’s unbeaten start to the season and placed them on top of the group.

Durham County FA squad against Northumberland : Harry Alderson, Harry Petterson, George Wilkinson, Sam Peat (Spennymoor Town), Brennan Fitzpatrick (Newton Aycliffe), Joseph Howey, Elliott Judson (Chester le Street Town), Josh Jukes (Washington AFC), Liam Dunn (Horden CW), Ryan Wright (West Auckland Town), Sam Johnson (Esh Winning), Harvi Driver (Newcastle Blue star), Charlie Green (Hartlepool FC) , Luke Richards (Seaton Carew).

Management team: Jim Thompson (Manager), Ken Riley (Coach), Martin Richards (Coach Physio)

The next fixture for Durham is the visit of Cheshire which will be played at Nissan on Saturday 19th March 2022, kick off 2.00pm