Dunston managed to keep their first clean sheet of the season against Consett despite being down to 10 men for over 60 minutes.

Both sides exchanged spells of possession in an even start to the game. The first chance of the game fell to Luke Carr in the ninth minute when his attempt was cleared off the line after being picked out by Sado Djalo who beat the offside trap. Summer signing Jordan Lamb was impressive in the first half, and he saw an attempt go over the bar from a cross in the 13th minute. Seconds later Djalo was played in behind and cut it back to David Robinson whose strike hit a Consett player for a corner. In the 15th minute it was Lamb trying his luck once again but his strike from distance was well wide. Three minutes later Jude Swailes denied Consett a golden opportunity with a last-ditch tackle conceding a corner in the process.

The biggest moment of the game came halfway through the first half when Chris McDonald was shown a straight red card for a challenge on Wil Shaw in the 21st minute. After the red card Consett understandably dominated possession and carved out a great opportunity when Shaw pulled the ball back to Kaleb Young inside the box, but his effort was wide of Dan Staples post. Following the red card UTS top scorer Dale Pearson was being used as a makeshift left back. He was booked in the 45th minute after halting a Consett counter-attack.

At the beginning of the second half Manager Jon McDonald took off Carr for Jack Camarda. Dunston started the second half the better of the two sides despite being a man down and came close when Robinson put the ball across the face of goal, but a Consett boot took it away from Djalo. After the half-time reshuffle Pearson went up top and was causing all sorts of problems for the Consett defence.

Dunston continued to press for the opener and won a free kick after Djalo was dragged down on the edge of the box with Ryan McKinnon receiving a booking. Turnbull took the free kick, but the keeper was equal to it. Pearson got in behind again in the 74th minute but the ball was taken away from him just as he was about to pull the trigger. Lamb found space down the left two minutes later but was caught in two minds as his cross-shot was easy for the keeper at the near post.

Neither team were ready to settle for a point as Dan Staples was forced into a save at his near post in the 81st minute. Benjamin Ramsey took a tumble inside the box in the 85th minute to try and win Consett a penalty but the referee waved away his claims and then booked the attacker. Substitute Jack Elliott was causing problems for Consett down the right side and fired the ball across with the Consett keeper just about managing to keep a hold of it.

Neither side managed to find the all-important goal with the spoils being shared after an eventful game. The result sees the home side remain third in the league on seven points from three games. Dunston will be hoping to keep their unbeaten start to the season intact when they travel to Belper Town on Saturday.

Written by Callum Jacques

Image Credit - Beauty Time Photography