Report

After receiving a bye in the 1st round, the Stan started their defence of the Senior Cup on a mirky & miserable night & on a heavy pitch. It is 100 seasons since they 1st entered the trophy & this is their 53rd time but 1st as holders. The Stan won through to the semi-finals but did so the hard way as they should have tied up a comfortable win in a 1st half which contained a number of scoring opportunities. Instead, after picking up an early lead, they went into half time level & although Blyth stepped up a gear in the 2nd half, while the Stan stepped down one, they managed to hold on to comfortably win on penalties. There was 1 change from the home defeat to Pontefract with Johnson making his 1st start as he replaced Beattie. Ex Stan goalkeeper De Jesus was between the posts for Blyth Town.

The Stan started the match positively & in the 2nd minute Hopper forced a save from De Jesus. The Stan then had another attack cleared & in 4 minutes Pearson should have scored when he was 1 on 1 with De Jesus who saved. The Stan pressure paid off in the 6th minute when another Stan attack saw Payne supply Pearson who blasted the ball into the Blyth net for 1-0. In the 9th minute, a Blyth corner was cleared & resulted in a Stan counter which saw Payne supply Pearson who was again 1 on 1 with De Jesus but the keeper got down to put the ball out for a corner. From the corner, Johnson’s weak shot was cleared. Blyth then countered but Gordon managed to block the player & the ball deflected out for a corner which was then cleared. Both teams were trying to attack including through counter moves. In 14 minutes, a Johnson high ball into the Blyth box was cleared followed by a Hopper & Pearson joint attack which came to nothing. 2 minutes later a Blyth high ball into the Stan box was cleared. In 19 minutes, there was a good move when a high ball was sent in to Johnson on the edge of the Blyth box, but he lost it under pressure. Both teams had attacks cleared then in 21 minutes, a ball into the Blyth box saw De Jesus drop but then collect just before Errington could make contact with the ball. De Jesus then punched clear a Stan free kick into the box & Johnson’s rebound shot hit the post & was then cleared. In 24 minutes, the Stan attacked again but De Jesus got down to smother the ball. There was a quieter period until in 37 minutes a ball into the Stan box was blocked twice before being forced into the net as Gordon couldn’t get to the ball in the crowded 6-yard box. The Stan were straight back on the attack & continued to do so until half time. In 40 minutes, De Jesus had to catch the ball. Blyth then had to block or clear another 6 Stan efforts in just over a minute. In the 45th minute, Johnson supplied Pearson & they advanced together with the move finishing with Johnson passing to Pearson whose shot was blocked & although the ball eventually came back to him, he shot over the bar. The half finished with Blyth’s 1st attack since their equaliser being cleared. 

The 2nd half started more quietly than the 1st with an Errington attack being cleared in the 52nd minute. The Stan were not having as much of the ball this half & in 59 minutes a Blyth attack saw a high ball go across the Stan goal & was eventually cleared. In 60 minutes, a long diagonal Johnson ball reached Errington, but his shot was put out by De Jesus  for a corner. In 61 minutes, a Blyth corner was cleared followed by another 2 Blyth attacks. In 64 minutes, a Stan attack into the Blyth box was blocked & a Blyth counter was stopped by a Burn tackle. In 66 minutes, from a corner, the visitors sent a downward header towards the Stan goal but it was cleared. In 72 minutes, there was a great defensive tackle from Capewell. Blyth attacked again & forced a corner. From it, the ball was cleared then sent back in & Gordon easily collected it. After some Stan pressure, Blyth had 2 corners cleared in 78 minutes. In 82 minutes, a Blyth shot was blocked by Gordon, but it went across the Stan goal & out for a corner. The game was getting scrappy partly as the Stan couldn’t hold onto the ball. In 87 minutes, Gordon punched clear for a corner from which he caught the ball. Into 4 minutes of added time, sub Lamb advanced but the ball was cleared. A joined-up Stan attack was then cleared. In 93 minutes, a Blyth free kick was sent left of the Stan goal towards a player but Capewell made an important block for a corner. The corner was cleared & the final whistle blew signalling a penalty shoot-out. 

The penalties were taken at the car park end. Gordon saved the 1st Blyth penalty followed by Hopper confidently scoring for the Stan. Blyth then blasted their 2nd penalty into the net, but Pearson also comfortably blasted into the net to keep the Stan 2-1 ahead. Blyth then blasted their 3rd penalty wide while sub Storey cooly blasted into the net to give the Stan a 3-1 lead. Blyth needed to score their 4th to remain in the tie & did while sub Deverdics, who would have won the tie for the Stan if he had scored, hit the post to make it 3-2 to the Stan. Blyth had to score their 5th penalty but shot wide so the Stan didn’t haver to take their 5th penalty & won 3-2. 

The Stan are now only 1 match away from another St James’ Park final. The semi final will be against either Benfield, Newcastle University or the winners of Whitley Bay v North Shields. First up though is s trip to Bishop Auckland in the league this Saturday. 

Stan Team: Gordon; Milburn; Evans (Storey 89); Burn; Capewell; Shepherd; Johnson (Lamb 79); Payne (Y) (Deverdics 69 (Y)); Pearson; Hopper; Errington (Walker 67). Sub unused: Flynn. Attendance 170. Man of the Match: Dan Capewell.                       

Kevin Mochrie

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