Easington Colliery drew level before losing out to Billingham.
Easington Colliery were defeated narrowly in a five-goal thriller at home to Billingham Synthonia on Saturday afternoon.
In a tight game, Nathan Mulligan’s 58th minute penalty proved the difference between the sides as Synthonia came out 3-2 winners.
Despite hitting the post twice inside the opening two minutes, Easington fell behind in the 14th minute through Macaulay Langstaff before Anthony Peacock doubled the Teessiders lead in the 23rd minute.
Easington responded through two fine strikes from Reece Kenney and Luke Page but it wasn’t enough as Mulligan’s second half penalty sealed the points for Billingham Synthonia.
The hosts made two changes from the win at Thornaby two weeks ago with Aaron Croft and Jack Pounder coming in to replace Ian Redman and Liam Hodgson.
The Colliers started brightly and could have taken the lead with just 24 seconds on the clock. Kenney drilled a cross towards the back post to find Goodey, who looked up before drilling a low effort which crashed back off the post.
The hosts had Synthonia rocking in the early exchanges and another great chance came when Pounder collected the ball on the edge of the penalty area but his effort also crashed back off the woodwork.
Conor Winter fired an effort harmlessly wide for the visitors who were failing to settle into the game.
In the 12th minute, Goodey played a short free-kick to Peter Jones and his cross found Pounder but the former Durham City man could only head over.
But against the run of play, Billingham Synthonia took the lead in the 14th minute. Mulligan slotted the ball through for Langstaff who fired into the corner from a tight angle to give the Synners the lead.
The goal sparked the Synners into life and after Langstaff had wasted a good opportunity, their lead was doubled in the 23rd minute. With Easington backing off, Chay Liddle and Langstaff linked up well to play in Peacock and the former Spennymoor Town man slotted home.
Just before the half hour mark, Kerridge looked to pull one back for Easington but his effort was saved. However, Jack McLaren fumbled the ball and it fell to Pounder but he was unable to convert.
Two minutes later, though, Easington did pull level. Croft was fouled 25 yards from goal and Kenney took responsibility for the free-kick. He drilled a low effort past the wall and it found the bottom corner to pull the Green Army back into the game.
Eight minutes before half-time, Page danced through for Easington and looked to be tripped in the penalty area but the referee turned the penalty appeals away.
Billingham Synthonia had goalkeeper McLaren to thank for keeping them ahead in the 42nd minute as Dan Martin crossed to find Kerridge but his effort was superbly saved by the former Doncaster Rovers goalkeeper.
But, when Goodey whipped the resulting corner into the penalty area, it was cleared as far as Page who blasted an effort into the top corner via a slight deflection.
The early exchanges of the second half were dominated by Synthonia who were applying pressure without any real chances.
In the 58th minute, Synthonia regained their lead from the penalty spot. Martin fouled Liddle and the referee pointed to the spot. Mulligan took responsibility and sent Donaldson the wrong way to regain the away side’s lead.
With 25 minutes still to play, it could have been 4-2 when a powerful header had Donaldson beaten but crashed back off the crossbar.
Despite coming back into the game, Easington were failing to create any real chances. A route one ball found Kerridge 20 minutes from time but his effort was blocked, while substitute Hodgson also had an effort blocked.
One floodlight at Easington’s Welfare Park had lost power, and in a dark ending to the match, only good game management was seeing Billingham Synthonia hold their lead.
Despite plenty of effort in the closing exchanges, Easington couldn’t find an equaliser and Billingham Synthonia claimed the three points.
Full-time: Easington Colliery 2-3 Billingham Synthonia
Easington Colliery: Donaldson, Croft, Martin, Pearson (c), Martin (Smith, 80′), Varga (O’Brien, 68′), Kenney, Page, Pounder, Kerridge, Jones (Hodgson, 65′)
Unused subs: Adamson, Freeman
Billingham Synthonia: McLaren, David Hillerby, O’Sullivan, Huggins, Rowbotham, Crust, Liddle, Mulligan, Winter (Robinson, 79′), Langstaff (Joe Hillerby, 86′), Peacock (c) (Seaton, 48′)
Unused subs: McGurk, Brunskill