Wednesday marked a welcome return to proper floodlit evening games with the visit of newly promoted Blyth Town. 416 brave souls had ventured out for the game, which was played in increasingly cold conditions as the clouds cleared, and the warmth of the last few months became a distant memory.  Many had been unprepared for this change in weather; still donning short sleeves and shorts, although to be fair most of them were on the pitch. There was one change from Saturday’s FA Cup win over Marske with Walker replacing. Burn. Ex-Stan keeper De Jesus was in goals for Blyth Town.

It wasn’t until the 5th minute that we got our first real action when Errington shot, aspirationally, from 35 yards. He kept it low, but it was well wide of the goal. Barely 4 minutes later, Blyth were one up when Johnson, their speedy No.11, crossed into the box and in the resulting scramble, Fishburn, scored a scrappy goal. Over the next 15 minutes, the Stan started to dominate the midfield culminating in several unsuccessful shots on goal.  Blyth Town’s Richardson, perhaps frustrated by this period of play, was booked for a careless challenge on Errington. Blyth Town however, remained dangerous with their No.7, Millington, having a shot just over the bar after a fast break.  Almost immediately, another rapid series of passes led to their No.10, Giles, being free on goal, who drilled a powerful shot towards goal only for it to be well saved by a diving Brass. After a couple of Heaton Stannington corners that came to nothing, the Stan had their best chance of the half on 32 minutes when Beattie battled past a string of defenders and unleashed a great shot that had to be tipped over the bar by Blyth’s keeper. The Stan largely finished the half stronger, with another Blyth player, Fell (No.5), being booked for a late challenge on Hopper but it remained 1-0 to Blyth at half time.

An early attack by Blyth in the second half led to a goalmouth scramble, not unlike their first goal, but thankfully in this case it was successfully defended.  Soon after, Errington picked up a yellow card for holding a Blyth player back who had beaten him in a challenge and was heading to the Stan box.  Heaton Stannington then made two successive substitutions: Storey for Adamson and Burn for Beattie, with Stephenson then moving to left back. These substitutions quickly paid off for the Stan with Burn scoring from close range on the 59th minute following a long throw-in from Slaughter which was flicked on at the near post and into his path. The status quo did not last long, as within 5 minutes, Millington scored a second goal for Blyth after some strong play from Giles. Two minutes later after a Hopper attack down the right and into the penalty box, Heaton Stannington were awarded a penalty, when his run was prematurely ended following a reckless challenge by a Blyth defender. Hopper duly converted the penalty to make it 2-2. It was end-to-end stuff for a period following this flurry of goals. The best chance was on 70 minutes when Slaughter, clear on goal, side-footed over the bar from 18 yards, following an excellent pass across the box from Errington.  On 77 minutes, Blyth replaced Johnson with Lively.   On 79 minutes, the Stan played a ball through the Blyth defence that Errington was first to chase but the Blyth keeper, De Jesus, showed good anticipation and cleared the danger. Into the last 10 minutes of normal time, Heaton Stannington replaced Milburn with Shepherd, and soon after Blyth made a double-substitution: Cooper for Millington, and Nicholson for Giles. These substitutions seemed to benefit both teams, as soon after there were close chances, and important saves, at both ends of the pitch.  There seemed to be another goal to come in the game, but despite a further two substitutions for Heaton Stannington, Payne for Walker and Groves for Stephenson, it failed to materialise.

A draw seemed to be a fair result for two teams who played entertaining and clean football. The Stan now travel in the league on Saturday to North Ferriby.             

Neil Gammack / Ben Sartain

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The 1st league game of the season saw the Stan welcome newly promoted Lincoln United to Willow Park for the 1st time. It was a competitive game although it looked like being a 0-0 draw until Pearson scored in the 90th minute to give the Stan all 3 points. So, it was déjà vu from last week’s FA Cup win with the Stan getting another hard fought 1-0 win, keeping a clean sheet & having the goal in both games scored by new signing Dale Pearson. There were 4 changes from the Whitley Bay cup match with Brass, Milburn, making his 2nd debut, Slaughter & Adamson replacing Flynn, Robson, Walker & Burn.

On a sunny summer afternoon, both teams started looking for a goal, but it was Brass who was in action 1st when in the 2nd minute he had to catch the ball from a free kick. Hopper then got into the Lincoln box, but their keeper caught his effort. A Stan ball was cleared on the edge of the Lincoln box in the 7th minute & 2 minutes later a shot from Stephenson, who had looked dangerous from kick off, was blocked. In the 11th minute Pearson beat the off-side trap but his shot from the edge of the box was saved. Both teams then had a corner & on 17 minutes a Lincoln player beat the Stan defence, but Brass came out to tackle him & clear the ball. The referee awarded a free kick, which was blocked, & booked Brass as he was not the last man. Both teams continued to try & attack & there was some good defending by the Stan. In 29 minutes, Lincoln shot just wide across the Stan goal. A minute later & Pearson got forward to meet a ball from Stephenson, but the Lincoln keeper got to it 1st. In 33 minutes, Brass had to punch clear & 3 minutes later the Lincoln keeper had to catch from a Stan effort. In the 40th minute, Hopper was flattened just outside the Lincoln box & from the resulting free kick Stephenson sent the ball over the wall & just offer the bar. It was a good effort but meant that the half ended 0-0.

There was a slower start to the 2nd half, but the Stan had some sustained pressure in the 48th minute. In 56 minutes, Stephenson had the ball in the Lincoln net, but the flag was up for offside. After Errington replaced Adamson in the 57th minute, the Stan started to wake up & in the 60th minute a Stephenson corner was cleared & the rebound effort from the edge of the box was blasted wide by Slaughter. There was a period of Stan pressure but Lincoln were trying to attack when they could. In 70 minutes, after a Stan counterattack that came to nothing, a Lincoln attack was put out under pressure. From the resulting corner Brass caught a headed effort from Lincoln. In 79 minutes, a Stan attack was headed clear followed by Lincoln having to clear again in the 6-yard box. In 81 minutes, Errington advanced with the ball into the Lincoln box & although his shot looked like it was going into the net the keeper managed to save it. Brass then made an easy save at the other end followed by a Lincoln player heading another effort wide. A Lincoln ball in the 85th minute across the Stan box was missed by everyone. Soon after, a Lincoln counterattack was stopped by a good tackle by man of the match Ben Milburn. In 88 minutes, sub Storey’s ball into the Lincoln box although not held by the keeper was cleared by a defender. The Stan had to clear 2 Lincoln attacks. From the 2nd in the 90th minute, Brass sent a long counterattacking ball to Pearson who, 1 on 1 with the advancing Lincoln keeper, confidently slotted the ball past him & it rolled into the net for 1-0 to the Stan. Into added time, & a Lincoln attack was cleared followed by their keeper just getting to the ball before a Stan player. Lincoln then had another advance cleared before a Milburn shot was blocked for a corner although the match finished soon after in the 7th minute of added time.

So, the hard work paid off for the Stan & they have started their league campaign with a win for the 1st time since 11 August 2012 in their last season in the Northern Alliance Premier Division. Next up is a visit on Wednesday to another promoted club in the form of Redcar Athletic. Next Saturday the Stan then host Marske United in the FA Cup.

Kevin Mochrie

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