Windscale rounded off the year with a 2-1 home defeat to high-flying Farringdon in a game in which The Atoms threw away three valuable points.
The game started brightly for Farringdon, as they brought Windscale keeper Lee Jolly into early action, forcing a save to his left.
The Atoms first attempt to threaten the visitors’ goal came from a Ross Leeson free-kick but it was angled towards the back post and was overhit.
Rob Davidson was on the end of a nasty challenge from a Farringdon midfielder who was booked for the foul.
The Atoms first shot came on 15 minutes, as Aiden Kegg played Ben Mahaffy down the right hand side.
He carried well before cutting back to Jack Wordsworth, who had time and space but opted for a first time shot which was miscued and wide of the mark.
Kegg also shot wide when Owen Woodburn pulled back a good ball for him to hit and these were two big chances which the Atoms really needed to convert in a game where opportunities were scarce.
Andrew Begbie was next to miss another golden chance for the Atoms as he pinched the ball high from the full-back.
Instead of shooting from inside the six-yard box, he attempted to square it to Mahaffy, only for it to be put out for a corner.
On 42 minutes, the same Farringdon man who fouled Davidson was sent off for a second yellow card.
It had seemed an innocuous challenge on Callum Bell but the referee was quick to brandish another card.
Into the second-half and Harry Hodgson, Travis Fyfe and Lewis Selkirk replaced Mahaffy, Davidson and Wordsworth in an attempt to get the Atoms a goal.
It nearly came on 79 minutes when Begbie saw a well hit strike brilliantly saved by the Farringdon keeper.
The corner was swung in and cleared, giving Selkirk a second chance to put it into the box, and when he did the ball ended in the back of the net. It was later confirmed to be a goal for Harry Hodgson, as he had poked the ball beyond the keeper.
With ten minutes left, the Atoms had only to hold out for all three points against 10 men, but were unable to do so.
On 87 minutes, a free kick was awarded on the edge of the Atoms penalty box for a soft foul, and it was dispatched, finding a gap in the wall and placed beyond Jolly.
That was not all for the Sunderland-based side, as in the 92nd minute, they struck again.
This time they got to the byline and although the cut back was initially parried by Jolly, it was then turned home.
The Atoms simply, threw it away and that’s it for 2025, but they will return on January 10.
Here is Stephen Fawcett’s verdict:
