Report

One hundred seasons since the Stan 1st qualified for & entered the Senior Cup, they were at St James’ Park for a 2nd year in a row to defend the trophy. This time they were the finalist from a higher division as their opposition was Northern League Division 1 Whitley Bay. After a relatively even 1st half, although most of the play took place in the Whitley Bay half, the Stan took an early 2nd half lead, but their opponents equalised 6 minutes later & neither team could find a winning goal. The match went straight to penalties & although the Stan had the opportunity to win with their 5th penalty, it was Whitley Bay who won 6-5 to lift the trophy. There were 2 changes from the final league game versus Hallam with Payne & Lamb replacing Burn & Errington. 

The start of the match was accompanied by singing & drums from the 3289 crowd who were mainly located in the East Stand. It was Whitley Bay who threatened 1st in the 1st minute although Brass got down to easily save. The Stan won a corner in the 4th minute but the ball from it went out. Soon after the Stan had a free kick into the Whitley box that came to nothing. In 7 minutes, Capewell got in the way of a ball into the Stan box & it went wide for a Stan goal kick. Both teams were trying to attack & in 13 minutes, Brass easily collected from a Bay shot. 2 minutes later & Hopper broke but was tackled. Soon after the Stan broke again & Hopper passed across to Lamb who supplied Walker but he shot over. The Stan were still pressing & eventually forced a clearance from Asikaogu in the Whitley goal. In 18 minutes Capewell partially cleared a Whitley attack then the ball was put out for a corner. From it, the ball was headed onto the hit the roof of the Stan net. In 20 minutes, Asikaogu got out to clear before Pearson could get to the ball. The ball from the resulting throw in was caught by Asikaogu. Walker was then pulled down & from the resulting Chrisp free kick, Shepherd’s header was easily collected by the keeper. Soon after, Pearson was brought down & Chrisp’s free kick was punched clear by Asikaogu. The ball went out to Lamb but his ball back into the box was cleared to Chrisp whose long-range effort went over the bar. The Stan had another attack cleared followed by a Bay attack which ended with a shot going high & wide. In 30 minutes, a Stan shot was blocked & the ball sent back into the Bay box by Evans was cleared. In 32 minutes, there was a joined-up Stan attack that was eventually cleared. Hopper was brought down and the resulting Pearson free kick from just outside of the Bay box went over the wall but Asikaogu stopped it & although the ball went back out to Pearson his rebound shot went over the bar. In 37 minutes, Bay broke & shot but Brass got down to stop it although the rebound shot was smothered in a scramble in front of the Stan goal & was eventually cleared. Although it was against the general run of play, Bay should have scored from this opportunity. 2 minutes later & bay attacked again but Chrisp cleared for a corner. From it, the ball was partially cleared before ending in the arms of Brass. He then sent a long ball up for the advancing Hopper but Asikaogu got to it 1st. Soon after, Lamb sent a diagonal ball to Pearson who eventually managed to supply Hopper, but his effort went just wide. In 44 minutes, Pearson supplied Walker who passed a defender & ran in on goal but his shot was saved by Asikaogu. During the minute of added time, the Stan had another opportunity to take the lead, but Pearson shot wide.

Despite the Stan having most of the ball in the 1st half, the 2nd half started goalless, but this was to change very soon. In 48 minutes, Pearson supplied Lamb in the Bay box, but he shot wide but a minute later in the 49th minute, the Stan were 1-0 up. From a throw in, the ball was passed to Pearson who advanced into the box from the left & his unexpected shot from a tight angle forced a great save from Asikaogu but the ball went out to Payne on the edge of the box & his shot went past everyone in the crowded 6 yard box & into the net. 3 minutes later, Brass got out to clear then Asikaogu had to also clear at the other end. In the 54th minute, Bay shot wide but the ball was deflected for a corner. From it, in the 55th minute, the ball was blocked in the Stan box twice before being slotted into the net by sub Nkunku for 1-1. The Stan didn’t give up & resumed trying to attack & in 59 minutes, Lamb sent a ball through to the advancing Pearson but, with only the keeper to beat, he shot over the bar. 2 minutes later & Lamb supplied Pearson again, but he was blocked. Bay then sent a long ball up, but Brass got out to clear. Bay then had another shot cleared out to the edge of the box resulting in a blasted shot that saw Brass get down to put the ball out for a corner. In 63 minutes, Brass got up to clear a Bay corner. Sub Errington forced a 65th minute corner from which Chrisp put the but the ball across the Bay goal & out. In 65 minutes, a Bay cross into the Stan box met an advancing player but his effort went wide. Soon after Bay attacked again & after the ball had been blocked & Robson had cleared, a follow up long range shot went high & wide. Chrisp & Hopper supplied the advancing Pearson in 70 minutes, but he was offside. In 73 minutes, a Stan attack eventually ended with Errington shooting well over. In 77 minutes, a ball from a Bay corner was headed clear by Shepherd & the rebound shot from the edge of the box went just wide. In 81 minutes, Robson supplied Chrisp whose ball into the box was saved by Asikaogu. Bay countered but the ball was cleared. In 86 minutes, sub Burn’s speculative long range effort went well wide. Errington then sent a diagonal ball into the box but it went straight to Asikaogu. In 88 minutes, a 40-yard Bay free kick went well over. In the last minute, sub Storey supplied Pearson but his shot was easily saved. Into 5 minutes of added time, & a joined up Stan attack saw the ball blocked in the Bay box 3 times. The Stan attacked again & this time Hopper was blocked. Bay were defending well & stopping the Stan’s persistent efforts. Against the run of play in the 93rd minute, Brass got out to punch the ball clear & relatively soon after it was all over bar the penalties.

So just like last year, the match was to be decided by penalties which were again taken at the Gallowgate end. Bay went 1st & scored as Brass went the wrong way. Hopper then casually sent Asikaogu the wrong way for 1-1. Bay scored from their 2nd penalty as Brass again went the wrong way. Pearson then calmly slotted the ball under the diving keeper’s arms to make it 2-2. Bay scored their 3rd as Brass again didn’t predict the direction. Storey sent the keeper the wrong way for 3-3. Brass went the right way for Bay’s 4th penalty but it sneaked into the corner of the net. Errington confidently sent his penalty into the top left corner of the net even though Asikaogu went the right way. The 1st 8 penalties had all been scored & it was 4-4 each going into the last round of standard penalties. Brass saved Bay’s 5th penalty to give Andy Burn the chance to win the cup for the Stan. He took the penalty well but Asikaogu saved it. For the 6th round of penalties, the Bay penalty went under Brass & Chrisp confidently put his into the left-hand corner of the net. It was now 5-5 & Bay scored from their 7th penalty putting the ball into the left corner of the net. Robson took the Stan’s penalty, but Asikaogu saved it for Bay to win the cup 6-5 on penalties. 

Despite having opportunities to win, & Whitley Bay tiring in the 2nd half, the trophy just slipped away from the Stan on the 7th & final round of penalties. Thanks must go to the Stan Army for their impressive turn out at St James’ Park. Despite the narrow loss, it was still a great achievement for the club making the final two years in a row & the Stan also have had their highest ever league placing, 7th in the Northern Premier League East Division, to celebrate. The Stan now look forward to the 26-27 season & the opportunity to aim for both league & cup glory. 

Stan Team: Brass; Evans; Chrisp; Robson; Capewell; Shepherd; Hopper; Payne (Storey 75); Pearson; Walker (Burn 75); Lamb (Errington 64). Subs not used: Gordon; Johnson. Attendance 3289.         

Kevin Mochrie

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