This was a potentially momentous event in the history of Heaton Stannington. While the first 75 minutes will be remembered as a wonderful occasion on and off the pitch; one single reckless attack changed the tenor of proceedings in an instant. A superb morning’s entertainment was marred by a sickening, cowardly, unprovoked attack on Paul Blakey by Birtley’s Mark Brererton that resulted in a broken jaw for The Stan midfielder.

Sadly Brererton’s punch, which caused an audible crack that was heard by almost the entire crowd, as well as being filmed by Sky Tyne & Wear, was missed by the referee and his assistants, meaning the visitors were able to substitute the perpetrator, who perhaps ought to have been sent off minutes earlier for a horror foul on Phil Smith. It is truly saddening that such a terrible incident has left an indelible stain on an otherwise perfect day. No doubt there will be further repercussions occasioned by Brererton’s actions, so we will not discuss the incident further.

Kicking off at the earlier time of 10.30am to incorporate the first leg of the Northern League groundhop, the game was witnessed by a magnificent crowd of 412, which is the highest turnout at Grounsell Park since the fireworks show each Guy Fawkes about a decade ago. Such a gathering created a palpable sense of occasion to the game, with the enthusiastic spectators offering warm, generous applause to the efforts of the two sides, not to mention loading themselves down with programmes, badges and many other items of footballing memorabilia.

However, the one name they will take away with them for the future will be that of Jonathan Wright who grabbed his 23rd and 24th league goals for The Stan this season, as part of an overall total of 27 goals in 2013/2014; not bad for the end of October. Wright opened the scoring with a penalty in the 19th minute, sending the keeper the wrong way. The second goal arrived just after half hour, when Phil Smith claimed his first goal for The Stan and remarkably avoided a yellow card, when tapping home from close range and engaging in a touch of continental flair by kissing the badge.

This is how the game stayed until the 83rd minute, when Wright fashioned himself a chance by evading several lusty challenges on the edge of the area, before burying a low, left footed drive into the corner to ensure that the win would be both emphatic and enough to send The Stan back to the top of Northern League Division 2.

Unfortunately, the sparkle seemed to go out of the game after Brererton’s assault on Blakey and the spectacle had become a somewhat muted event. Make no mistake though, this was an excellent win and in the cold light of day, a great event. If only we could encourage more spectators to come and watch us on a regular basis. Still, if Pardew keeps his job down the road, we may see more here on a regular basis!!

Stan Team:

Subs:

Yellow Cards: Chapman.

Attendance: 412

Goals: Wright 19(pen), 83, Smith 31

Kevin Mochrie