Report

The Stan were again in pre-season friendly action on the astro pitch at Coach Lane & this time the opponents were old friends Jarrow from Northern League Division 2. After being 2-0 down at half time, the Stan put on a good 2^nd half show for the fans by winning 5-2 which included some great goals. There was a 2^nd start & 3rd appearance for a trialist up front while 3 players who were subbed later came back on.

The Stan started positively with some pressure but with no end product. After 5 minutes, Marriott made a great tackle to stop a Jarrow attack. 3 minutes later & Brass easily caught from a Jarrow corner. Jarrow then shot wide. Both teams were trying to attack & in 17 minutes the Stan had their 1^st clear effort, & it was one of note as Doyle sent a cross into the Jarrow box but Hopper’s header went just wide. Jarrow then shot across the Stan goal but the ball went wide. Burn then sent a ball from a free kick just over the Jarrow bar. It was Jarrow though who took the lead in 21 minutes when a good turn allowed one of their players to beat the defence & slot the ball past Brass at the far post. In 24 minutes, Hopper sent a high ball into the box but the Jarrow keeper got up top catch it just before Anderson could make contact. 3 minutes later & Brass made 2 blocks before a Doyle free kick at the other end was headed just wide by Hopper. In 37 minutes, a poor Stan clearance allowed the ball to bounce to a Jarrow player who only had Brass to beat & his shot went into the Stan net for 2-0 to Jarrow. Lashley then had a shot blocked followed by Brass catching at the other end. In 41 minutes, Evans forced a corner that was taken by Lashley. From it, the ball was headed at the far post by Turnbull back along the goal line but Anderson couldn’t force it into the net & the ball was cleared. Both teams ended the half trying to attack but it remained 2-0 to Jarrow.

Although the 2^nd half started with a Jarrow corner, the Stan then had the 1^st clear effort of the half when a joined up attack ended with the sub trialist shooting just wide. A 30-yard Jarrow free kick the went just over the Stan bar. The Stan got a goal back in 52 minutes when a Slaughter free kick into the box was, via Lashley & the trialist, blasted into the net by Foster for his 1^st Stan goal. The Stan were level on 62 minutes when the ball from a Stan attack went back to Slaughter 30 yards out & he blasted the ball past a number of players & into the net. The Stan kept the pressure on & Slaughter shot again in 65 minutes but his effort this time went well wide. In 74 minutes, Slaughter passed to Foster who supplied the advancing Anderson & although the Jarrow keeper made himself big to block the shot, Foster scored from the rebound & put the Stan ahead. In 77 minutes, a speculative long-range effort from Jarrow went just over the Stan bar. In 79 minutes, a Hopper long ball into the box bounced once allowing Harper to then put it past the Jarrow keeper & into the net. In 86 minutes, a speculative long-range effort was caught by the Jarrow keeper. 3 minutes later & sub Corkhill had to catch from a Jarrow effort. The Stan ended the match in style in the 90th minute when a joined up attack, started by Harper, saw the ball eventually go back to the edge of the box allowing Evans to blast it into the net for 5-2.

Stan Team: Brass (Corkhill 53); Doyle (Evans 40); Hornsby (Sayer 46); Slaughter; Turnbull (Marriott 81); Marriott (Shepherd 46); Burn (Foster 46); Ellison (Burn 70); Anderson; (Trialist 46 (Anderson 68)); Lashley (Harper 58); Hopper.

Kevin Mochrie

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