Durham County FA began their defence of the Association of Northern Counties Youth Cup with an 8-0 home victory against Westmorland FA at Washington hub.

The two teams started well in very cold conditions with play flowing from one end to the other.

Durham then started to take control, following good play down the right the ball was floated into the Westmorland box, headed clear from Westmorland defender, and falling at the feet of Brennan Fitzpatrick who excellently sidestepped a challenge before firing into the top right corner giving Durham the lead after 16 minutes.

The home side were provided with a golden opportunity to double the lead, a cross field pass from Lewis Rutherford found Riley Mouat who proved to be dangerous all afternoon set the ball across the box to be fired home by Ryan Wright, last season’s top goal scorer in the competition.

Durham took control of the fixture and added a third when Ryan Wright cut in from the left and found the bottom corner in true Ryan Wright fashion doubling his goals on the day and putting Durham ahead 3-0.

The visitors created a chance with 10 minutes to go until the halftime interval, but Kyle Seymour wasn’t too worried as he watched the ball roll wide of his left post!

5 minutes to go until the break and Durham made it 4! A ball played into Ryan Wright who then rounded the Westmorland goalkeeper before slotting it home to make it a first half hat trick and giving Jim Thompsons side a comfortable 4 nil lead.

Half Time:

Durham County FA 4 – 0 Westmorland FA (16’ Fitzpatrick, 22’,32’,40’, Wright)

Referee Ryan Moore got the game back underway, a few changes for Durham saw Ben Glendinning , James Thew and Riley Mouat replaced by Milo Harris, Josh Thynne and Josh Hodgkinson.

It didn’t take Durham long to add to the goals from the first half when Ryan Wright ran freely down the right hand side before squaring the ball for Charlie Twinn who made it 5-0.

A miserable afternoon for Westmorland and a dominant performance from Durham County FA was made that little bit worse as Kyle Seymour’s long goal kick set Ryan Wright on his way his cross then found substitute Milo Harris who made no mistake and found the net. 6-0.

Late in the game Durham rounded off a great display when captain Harry Laviolette and Charlie Wood scored from corners.

Full Time:

Durham County FA 8 – 0 Westmorland CFA

 (16’ Fitzpatrick, 22’,32’,40’, Wright, Twinn, 53’, 67’ Harris, 82’ Laviolette, 90’ Wood) 

Durham County FA Team: Seymour, Laviolette ©, Richards, Glendinning, Wood, Fitzpatrick, Twinn, Thew, Wright, Mouat, Rutherford.

Substitutes: Alderson, Harris, Thynne, Hodgkinson

Westmorland CFA Team: Atkinson, Bowen, Mackay, Corbett, Modlin, Braithwaite, Ponter, Dargue, Looker ©, Casson, Bowen.

Substitutes: Cook, Rigby, Harris, Leonard, Hudson.

Durham’s next game in the competition is against Cheshire CFA on 11th February 2023 at Nissan