Competition: Friendly
Hebburn Town v Heaton Stannington
Heaton Stan showed that they have what it takes against Northern Premier League East Division opposition as they held last season’s champions Hebburn to a goalless draw on a balmy Friday night.
The Stan started strongest and swarmed the home side at every opportunity in the early stages. A goalmouth scramble in the fourth minute caused havoc in the Hebburn box, and while it didn’t culminate in an effort on goal, it showed that Nicholson’s men will continue to play on the front foot.
Midway through the first half, Hebburn started to turn the tide and will consider themselves unfortunate not to have hit the target. A wide player held the ball up, messing with Kane Evans by jerking left and right, before bursting inside and lining up a shot around 25 yards out. If the sun wasn’t in his eyes, that might have been a test for Lewis Brass in goal.
A few minutes later, Hebburn found themselves in a similar position, but this time they opted to cross. The ball was hung up perfectly for the striker who glances agonisingly wide from the edge of the six yard box.
Long spells of the game were largely for the football purists, with intriguing battles happening all over the pitch, without necessarily leading to chances. Both keepers had to show their command of their box from crossed corners, but for the most part, they weren’t called into too much danger.
Just as in the first half, the Stan packed the Hebburn box early in the second to try to force the ball in but without any luck. A corner rattled around the box before falling to David Palmer who tried to drill a low shot in but it was blocked. Eventually the ball settled at Konner Lamb’s feet, but he went down under a challenge and couldn’t get his shot away properly, but the referee wasn’t having the penalty shouts.
The save of the match occurred on 65 minutes, as a Hebburn player planted a header towards goal from a corner, but time appeared to stop as Brass sprung into action and palmed the ball out of the top corner.
Legs began to tire in the closing stages, unsurprising given the high-tempo and high-quality standard of the game. A floated free kick on 73 minutes allowed Palmer space to shoot from range, albeit the Hebburn defenders did close it down to force corner – but a defensive lapse a minute later gave the Stan their best opening of the night.
The keeper tried to play out from the back, but it’s unclear who the intended recipient was, so the fresh legs of Louis Anderson happily stole in and played the ball to Lamb on his right.
With footwork similar to that of his stunning play-off final goal against West Auckland, Lamb shifted the ball onto his left and delayed his shot, but perhaps for too long, as his effort was straight down the throat of the keeper.
Half-chances and teasing crosses for both sides followed, but no-one could break the deadlock. Both of these sides will be entering new territory next season, and based on this showing, Heaton and Hebburn supporters can expect plenty of character, determination and strong defensive work from their players.
Liam Milburn
0 vs 0 
Whitley Bay v Heaton Stannington
An evenly-matched contest at Hillheads saw both Whitley Bay and Heaton Stannington struggle with more than just the stuffy temperature.
Jordan Lashley had the first effort on target inside the first two minutes, receiving a pass 25 yards out with his back to goal, then turning, creating space for himself and shooting low, but the Whitley Bay keeper wasn’t troubled too much.
The two teams spent the opening stages feeling each other out and each having good spells of possession. The home side’s first opportunity came on 14 minutes as their number 7 picked up a loose ball following a Stan charge-down, lined up a shot on the edge of the area and forced goalkeeper Callum Corkhill down to his near post to push the attempt wide.
The Whitley woodwork was rattled two minutes later. Joe Shepherd played a diagonal ball forward from deep, which was defended, but fell to Konner Lamb, whose flick on found Lashley’s perfectly timed run from wide. Nobody could quite believe how much time and space Lashley found himself in on the edge of the area, with just the keeper to beat, but he was thwarted by the crossbar.
Just as they did at Seaham earlier in the week, the Stan drew a foul close to the half way line in the closing stages of the first half. Tuesday’s free kick from Stephenson led to a Connor Walker goal, but Friday’s did not, and Konner Lamb may wonder how his header from close range didn’t hit the target.
Having missed a good chance, moments later the Stan were carved open at the back and probably should’ve gone behind. A neat one-two bypassed the back line, but under the pressure of defenders Shepherd and Turnbull hot on the striker’s heels and Corkhill in goal charging towards him, his shot couldn’t have the kind of force he would’ve wanted, and a little dink ended up trickling harmlessly wide.
With a few minutes of the half remaining, Kane Evans tried to pick out Dan Stephenson’s run into the box with a long diagonal ball from the Stan half. The punt was slightly too long, but Stephenson’s pressure on the keeper caused Whitley Bay’s pink-clad custodian to swipe at the ball with his feet. With the keeper off his line, Lashley seized upon the loose ball and fired it straight back towards goal, but if he’d afforded himself a second to steady himself, the shot may have been more accurate than his wild wallop.
Just as they did the first, the Stan started brightest in the second half and could’ve found themselves ahead on 48 minutes. Evans received a long ball in a good crossing position, floated in a cross but Lamb was unable to connect with it in the six yard box.
Whitley Bay clearly took some inspiration from that long ball to the wide player ten minutes later, as an identical ball from their left back found a right winger, but rather than cross, he took the ball onto his left, cut into the box, pulled back for a right-footed shot, but under pressure he wasn’t able to steady himself for anything other than a swing – no danger for Corkhill.
Up at the other end, the Whitley Bay defence gifted the Stan possession parallel to the 18 yard line. A heavy touch from the recipient of a throw allowed Evans to steal the ball from in front of him – he moved it onto Lamb, who cleverly halted and dragged the ball from his left to right foot, but his eventual shot was narrowly high and wide.
After a quiet spell, Whitley Bay created a good opening on 65 minutes. The home side’s keeper launched a long ball forward – it was dealt with by Alfie Marriott, but the second ball dropped into the Whitley Bay midfield and another excellent one-two allowed them to unleash a powerful first time shot which swerved, but Corkhill dived to his left, got his body behind it and took the sting out of it before collecting calmly at his feet.
As the minutes ticked away, the score-less outcome was looking more and more likely. Both sides were showing real fight and endeavour, but neither side were having much luck in front of goal. Whitley Bay proved this twice in the same minute with 13 to play, stealing possession and charging towards goal on both occasions, but each attempt missed the target.
The Stan had a wasted opportunity of their own three minutes later. Evans was involved in the build-up again, this time sending a ball low into the box, flicked on beautifully by James Harper to the arriving Danny Sayer, who should’ve hit the target but fired over.
The final word goes to the home side, who elicited the biggest gasp of the night on 81 minutes. Their corner caused chaos, eventually dropping close to the penalty spot for a Whitley Bay man. He had a lot of bodies in front of him, so he opted to bend it over everyone, but like Lashley in the first half, he had to watch in agony as his shot crashed against the crossbar.
No goals in the end, but no lack of excitement as both sides can rue big opportunities that went amiss. Certainly not a wasted evening, as the players got a good workout and more minutes in the tank, and the supporters enjoyed some beers in a rare bit of summer evening sunshine.
Callum Corkhill; Kane Evans, Mark Turnbull (Alfie Marriott 46), Joe Shepherd, Jay Hornsby; Marc Ellison (Trialist 46), Dan Stephenson, Connor Walker (Daniel Sayer 46); Jordan Lashley (Liam Doyle 46), Leighton Hopper (James Harper 58), Konner Lamb
Liam Milburn
Photo Gallery
0 vs 0 Seaham Red Star v Heaton Stannington
The 2nd of 5 away pre-season friendlies in a row saw the Stan travel to former Northern League Division 1 rivals Seaham Red Star. It was a good work out for both squads but although the 1st half was relatively lively there was not much in the 2nd half for the small crowd to write home about.
A wet 1st half started with Turnbull heading over the home bar after 3 minutes. 2 minutes later & a sustained Stan attack ended with Sayer shooting over the bar. In 10 minutes, Walker won the ball from a defender but shot just wide. In 14 minutes, from a corner, the home keeper got down to save a shot by Evans. After a lively start by the Stan, Red Star finally attacked through a counter attacking move, but Corkhill got to the ball 1st to clear it. It was still mainly pressure from the Stan with Hopper especially looking lively. In 19 minutes, Lamb flicked the ball over the home keeper, but a defender cleared it off the line. From the resulting corner, Sayer headed over the bar under pressure. It was still mainly 1 way traffic until a home free kick in 25 minutes went wide. Red Star then had a sustained attack but eventually shot wide. Both sides were now trying to attack & Red Star had a shot which went high & wide in 35 minutes after a ball had gone across the Stan goal missing everyone. Red Star had some more pressure, but it was the Stan who got a goal in 37 minutes. A Stephenson free kick into the box saw the ball initially blocked but it came back to Walker on the edge of the box who blasted it into the net for his 1st Stan goal. Almost immediately it was nearly 2-0 to the Stan when Lamb advanced on the home goal & shot just wide under pressure.
The Stan started the 2nd half lively with Shepherd heading just wide from a corner in the 49th minute. Both teams were trying to get forward but were on most occasions being cancelled out by the opposing defences. In 54 minutes, Red Star put some pressure on the Stan goal & Corkhill had to palm the ball away from a corner ball. Both teams remained positive, but any efforts went well wide or high. In 68 minutes, sub Lashley’s deflected shot was saved by the keeper. 3 minutes later & a Red Star speculative long-range effort into a busy Stan box saw Corkhill getting down to get a hand to the ball & put it out for a corner. The resulting corner ball was missed by everyone. After a quieter spell the sub Seaham keeper made a great save in 79 minutes when Sayer supplied Lamb & he blasted the ball from 30 yards. From the resulting corner, Walker put a rebound shot well over the bar. The Stan kept the pressure on & in the 90th minute a Sayer speculative long-range shot forced a great save from the home sub keeper. From the resulting corner, Lamb shot well over. The match ended with a speculative long range home effort which went just wide. So, after a relatively uneventful 2nd half, the match ended lively but with no more goals.
Stan Team: Corkhill; Evans; Sayer (Hornsby 46); Turnbull (Marriott 57); Stephenson (Sayer 62); Shepherd; Lamb (Lashley 46); Palmer (Ellison 46); Anderson (Harper 57); Walker; Hopper (Lamb 72).
Kevin Mochrie
0 vs 1