Dennis Knight stunner shoves it back to Consett wind-up merchants

The former Newcastle United youngster halved the deficit before half time after the Roofers conceded two early goals to the County Durham side.

Playing with a strong wind behind them, Consett took the lead after seven minutes when Jordan Nellis struck a low shot past Lewis Brass from a tight angle.

Consett doubled their lead just after the half hour when Michael Sweet struck. The forward arrived late into the Roofing box to sweep the ball.

After being on the receiving end of some hefty tackles, as well as Consett manager Mark Eccles constant haranguing from his technical area, Knight shoved the verbals and physicality back down the throats of the visitors five minutes before the interval.

Collecting the ball on the right touchline, Knight dropped his shoulder, sent two defenders the wrong way and weaved inside before firing the ball into the far top corner like an arrow.

The Roofers thought they had an opportunity to equalise before the break but an exceptionally strong penalty appeal was waved away by the referee.

With the wind dropping at the interval, the game became more of a spectacle in the second half as Roofing took control against the visitors. Yet for long periods, chance after chance went begging for Roofing, including two good efforts from Knight.

With Chris Winn dominating with his strength up top, and then central defender Dan Kirkup moving forward to form a three-man attacking threat, Consett were creaking.

And a deserved equaliser arrived on 73 minutes when skipper Shaun Vipond managed to hook the ball towards the back post from the touchline for Kirkup to steam in and plant a header into the back of the net.

“We deserved more than a point, we were by far the better side, but two lapses in communication and concentration gave them a two goal advantage,” Roofing joint manager Collingwood said..

“We showed fantastic character and patience to pull ourselves level, but we should have won it. They were more happy with the draw than us.

“You won’t see a better strike in any level of football that Dennis Knight produced, it was a great goal.”

“That goal gave us the belief that we needed, and I thought the whole team were fantastic today.”

With a visit to Collingwood’s former club, Seaham Red Star, on Tuesday night, the joint manager believes that a corner had been turned as Roofing climbed further up the table to 17th and with games in hand on most of the club’s around them.

“It’s a measure of how far we have moved forward as a club and a team when we have got a dressing room disappointed with a draw against a team that was in the top six in the league.

“With the changes made to the playing side, it was always going to take the lads time to gel but we are looking stronger week by week.”