A competitive and entertaining match saw the Stan nearly beat division 1 North Shields in their last league cup group match. There were 2 changes from the 3-0 win against Sunderland West End on Saturday with ex-Stan goal machine Connor Campbell starting for the home side.

The match started with the Stan on the attack and they had a free kick after 2 minutes which Wright couldn’t get on the end of. After 4 minutes there was the 1st of 2 consecutive Stan corners. Shields had their 1st attacks on 7 and 9 minutes but the Stan still looked to threaten especially through Sayer on the wing.

There was then a relatively quiet period until the Stan had a free kick after 21 minutes. Charmey sent the ball into the wall in the box and Bailey was able to put it past the keeper and into the net. A minute later and Campbell shot just wide. After 24 minutes, Wright turned, ran up the wing but shot too far across the goal although the Stan did get a corner and Shields were rattled. The Stan were dealing well with Shields advances although at the other end they got caught out a few times with off-sides although some heavy tackling by the home team throughout the match also stopped a number of Stan advances.

In the 32nd minute, a run by Paterson down the wing saw his cross ball hit the bar. 2 minutes later and Shields headed an effort just wide. There was then a short period of Shields pressure but the Stan defence dealt well with it and the team managed a couple of counter attacks. In 42 minutes a joined up attack involving Wright, Sayer and Bailey eventually resulted in the Shields keeper stopping a Paterson shot with a good save and the half ended with more Stan pressure.

The 2nd half started with Shields searching for an equaliser although Paterson had a shot blocked after 48 minutes. There was a period of sustained Shields pressure which the Stan defence was dealing well with until the 54 minute when a good tackle by Sayer appeared to stop another home attack but an unlucky deflection saw the ball go across to the left of the goal allowing Carr to tap it into the net. The Stan responded positively and had a period of pressure but were wasting the final ball and the referee failed on a couple of occasions to respond to bad Shields tackles.

In 63 minutes a Shields attack was blocked by good Stan defending but the Stan counter saw Charmey brought down by a crunching yellow card tackle. The Stan won a couple of corners with the keeper catching from the 2nd. The Stan had to clear a Shields attack in the 68th minute but the counter came to nothing. There was now a lot of activity in the middle of the pitch with both teams trying to get the ball forward. In 71 minutes, after a Shields break and corner, Ball had to punch the ball away and 3 minutes later the Stan had to clear again.

In 75 minutes, Kerridge replaced Mason and his presence added to the Stan threat. In 76 minutes, Paterson broke and ran almost the whole pitch but the keeper just got to the ball 1st. Kerridge then won the ball in the middle, passed to left but then hit the return ball over the bar when he had a clear shot on goal. It was the best chance of the night.

In 79 minutes a Shields attack was blocked by one of many good tackles by Sayer. A minute later and a Wright attack led to a Stan corner from which Bailey sent a great header into the home net to restore the Stan lead. It seemed to revive the Stan but in 83 minutes a ball in from the left to a busy box was headed in by Carr. 2 minutes later a solo attack by a Shields player was eventually cleared. Then a high Shields ball into the box led to a header being just blocked for a corner. Under pressure 2 corners in a row were blocked before the Stan got their own corner in 87 minutes which was only partially cleared before Kerridge’s effort was blocked. Shields then attacked before Wright did. Shields attacked again before Wright advanced and was fouled but nothing was given. Shields then shot high and wide. Into 3 minutes of injury time and both teams were still trying to get a winner although it was 3 Stan attacks to Shields one but the continuous action ended with a draw.

It was a great effort by the Stan who more than matched their higher league opponents. With the Stan taking 7 points from their 4 matches, they will need to wait to see if they have qualified as one of the top 2 in the group for the last 16 as Seaham (2) and Shields (1) still have matches to play.

Stan Team: Ball; Simpson; Hall; Ray (Imray 46); Middleton; Bailey; Paterson; Mason (Kerridge 75); Wright; Charmey (Allan 82); Sayer.

Unused subs: Ions; Hoggins.

Goals: Bailey 21, 80.

Yellow Card: Wright

Attendance: 306

Kevin Mochrie