Barnard Castle are through to the final of the Alan Hood Charity Cup.
A dramatic semi-final tie at Tens Field turned out to be a classic game of two halves and featured a hat-trick of sensational goals and the return of a Barney legend.
The game went ahead last Saturday despite the recent heavy rain and the players had to contend with areas of the pitch that were extremely soft underfoot.
That possibly explained why the first half was a tight, tense affair with little quality to be witnessed from either side.
Barney did have a glorious chance to open the scoring when Tom Merryweather, Sol Tones and Jed Dominick all had successive shots dramatically blocked by members of the Seaton backline in a goalmouth melee.
At the other end, Merryweather made a well-time tackle to deny the visitors a goal-scoring opportunity.
The game opened up in the second half, however, with Barney taking the lead.
The move started when Dan Lowther advanced down the right keeping one-step ahead of his marker before cutting a cross back from the byline to Ben Clark, who controlled the ball with his left and then slotted his shot into the corner of the net.
The home side went 2-0 ahead when Sol Tones controlled a throw-in, beat a defender and then crossed from the byline to Tai Saunders, who swept a superb first-time shot into bottom-right corner of the net.
Seaton Carew hit back midway through the half with a magnificent goal.
However, the Barney bench believed the referee failed to punish a clear offence in the build-up.
A Seaton corner was cleared and the ball bounced head-high on the edge of the box.
Barney’s Jake McKellar pulled out of his header to avoid being kicked when a Seaton player raised his boot to head-height to kick it.
It looked a clear case of dangerous play but the referee ignored the appeals and Seaton played-on.
The ball was fed wide to the right-hand corner of the 18-yard box and Robbie Lithgo hit a stunning shot that stuck in the stanchion at the far post.
Barnard Castle manager John Close acknowledged the quality of the finish.
“It had so much pace, whip and dip, it was a brilliant strike,” he said, before adding: “So, it was 2-1 and they’re back in it, they rallied a little bit, but we still felt in control to be honest. We didn’t feel nervous.”
Barney soon restored their two-goal lead through veteran Jamie Harwood, who was given permission to play by Sunderland RCA. Close was delighted to be able to call on such a quality player.
“Jamie, who’s a Barnard Castle legend, scored a header from seven or eight yards out from Leo Buckle’s corner.
“He’s the best player to come out of Barnard Castle for a generation, a brilliant footballer who, at 40, is still playing. He’s had a terrific career and played as high as Conference League level.”
Barney’s fourth was another goal to remember with Saunders collecting the ball with his back to goal before rolling the right-back and hammering his shot into the top corner with his left foot.
The other Alan Hood Charity Cup finalist has yet to be decided and the final will take place next year.
Barney are back in Premier Division action tomorrow when they host Annfield Plain at Tens Field (Saturday, 1.30pm).
