Alnwick Town boss hoping to challenge for league title

Lewis Fairbairn opened the scoring for the visitors in the fourth minute with a fine shot across the home keeper into the far corner.

Consett initially struggled to make much headway against a stubborn visiting defence and a strong wind and Alnwick held the advantage at the break.

Within five minutes of the restart they were level from the penalty spot courtesy of Zak Atkinson.

Consett then took the lead on 62 minutes when a corner was not cleared and Dan Capewell was on hand to half-volley home from six yards.

Three minutes from time it was 3-1 when Jack Gibbons picked up possession outside the box and drove a fine shot into the bottom left corner.

Last Wednesday, Alnwick were on the right side of a five-goal thriller when they emerged 3-2 winners over Newcastle Benfield Reserves thanks to goals from Joe Eggleston, Joseph Fife and Phil Riley.

They face Ponteland United in their Northern Alliance Premier League opener at St James’ Park on Saturday, August 5, 2.30pm.

Boss Richie Latimer, speaking to Alnwick Town TV before the Consett game, said: “I am more than happy with the squad. My main job was to keep the players we had. We’ve got some very talented players here and they’ve turned down a lot of clubs to stay so they’ve shown loyalty.

"We’ve managed to bring in players, Liam Brook and Kevin Cook being two of them, and there are a couple more that we’re looking to bring in before the season starts so we’ve got very good numbers and we’ll be set for Ponteland.

"I’m hearing that we’re favourites for the league but this is a very difficult league to get out of. It doesn’t matter if it’s away at Haltwhistle or at Burradon New Fordley but we feel we have a squad that should challenge and should be up there. It’s just getting that consistency. Hopefully we’ll get a good start to the season and we’ll see where we go from there.”