The High Heaton derby took place at 11am on a bank holiday Monday at a miserable and wet Coach Lane. There were two changes from the starting line up at Brandon a couple of days earlier.

The Stan started in confident mood and had the better opening with Burns shooting wide after two minutes and Rowntree nearly getting to a poor clearance three minutes later. Both teams tried to get forward but the home team did not have a clear shot on goal until the 12th minute which went over. The Stan defence then dealt well with two further North attacks.

In the 16th minute, Hayton wasted a good chance when he shot straight at Mundy the home keeper. Rowntree then had a shot and a minute later a ball into the box by Burns was headed by Bailey but Mundy pulled off a good save with the rebound shot hitting the side netting.

Team North then attacked but were stopped by a good tackle. The ball rebounded but the home side’s shot was blocked at close range by Smith. Three minutes later and North shot wide. Soon after, Burns sent a fast ball into the home box which curved from left to right but missed everyone. Two minutes later Jones sent a ball in from the right which beat everyone but hit off the right post when it could have gone in even though it appeared to have been meant as a cross.

There was a quieter period before a good challenge by Stoddart halted a home attack on the half hour mark. The North number 11 beat Dixon five minutes later and shot from close range but Smith made a great save. The last ten minutes of the half saw a number of attacks by the Stan but ended with Smith catching the ball from the first home attack for a while. The Stan had more than matched the home team in the first half but it ended 0-0.

The second half was quieter although the Stan seemed to tire more than the home side who, as a result, at times had more of the ball. Apart from the home keeper saving well in the 48th minute, nothing much happened for about twenty minutes although North did have a number of attacks that were dealt with easily by the Stan defence.

In the 63rd minute, Burns was brought down when breaking free but Jones’s free kick went straight to the home keeper. A minute later and a North counter-attack saw Dibb-Fuller with the ball in the box but with his back to goal and with Stoddart behind him. Stoddart was blocking Dibb from turning but, as expected and like Perez in the previous encounter at Grounsell Park, he went down and the referee awarded a penalty. The Stan Army were outraged and although Smith went the correct way, Storey took the penalty well and scored.

The Stan heads then went down for a while although Mundy had to parry away a Stan effort in the 70th minute. This was followed by a number of attacks at either end. In the 76th minute, Burns sent a ball into Rowntree which the keeper blocked. He was slow to clear it but the Stan were also slow to react and it resulted in a counter attack which saw Smith make a save. He also made a good full stretch save four minutes later when North shot from outside the box. From the resulting corner Smith made a good catch.

The home side then shot wide twice but after that thelast 10 minutes was mainly dominated by the Stan attempting to equalise. This included efforts by Bailey and Burns which were blocked and a Rowntree shot which was stopped by Mundy.

In the 87th minute, a counter attack by substitute Yates saw a defender catch up with him and bring him down in the box but nothing was given by the inconsistent referee. The Stan pressure continued into injury time when a free kick was headed out for a corner. The corner led to a clash of heads with an injured Scott having to be replaced by Wear.

The Stan did not deserve to see their four match winning streak end. Manager Dekka Thompson was very unhappy with the referee’s performance which ultimately influenced the final result.

Stan Team: Smith; Telford; Dixon; Stoddart;Scott (Wear); Imray (Yates); Jones; Bailey;Hayton; Rowntree; Burns.

Unused Sub: Ward.

Yellow Cards: Stoddart; Scott.

Attendance: 123

Kevin Mochrie