Season: 2024-25
1 vs 1 5 vs 1 Heaton Stannington vs Brighouse Town
Although Brighouse is famous for its brass band, it was the Stan’s Lewis Brass & his outfield band of players who were top of the pops with a comfortable 2-0 win in front of a crowd of 422. There were 4 changes from Tuesday’s Senior Cup win over Whitley Bay with Brass, Shepherd, Slaughter & Stephenson replacing De Jesus, Marriott, Sayer & Burn.
In the High Heaton sunshine, both teams tried to attack from the start, but the 1st clear effort came from the Stan after 7 minutes when Evans cut into the box & supplied Lamb who put the ball over the bar. Lamb then advanced again but was blocked by 2 defenders. This was followed by Brighouse’s 1st venture near the Stan box but their cross was blocked although 2 minutes later they did get the ball into the Stan box but it was easily cleared. There was a sustained Stan attack in 17 minutes which ended with Evans putting the ball into the 6 yard box & although it was blocked, Lamb at the back post managed to send the ball back out to Beattie who blasted it into the net. 2 minutes later, Anderson supplied Lamb who was brought down just inside the Brighouse box. The resulting penalty in the 20th minute was comfortably put away by Anderson for 2-0. Brighouse did try to attack after this but their efforts were easily dealt with by the Stan. They did get a corner in 24 minutes which Turnbull cleared. Brass then had trouble with his knee but was able to continue. After a quieter period, a speculative long-range effort by Richardson went over the bar. Both teams were trying to attack but with no real end product. A Brighouse long range shot after 35 minutes went high & wide. The Stan were battling well & in 39 minutes Lamb got past the visiting keeper & was brought down but he was offside. Lamb & Stephenson then attacked again but a foul was given for Brighouse. The visitors then had an attack blocked then cleared. They then sent a free kick into the box which was blocked by Richardson then cleared. Brighouse’s late rally continued with a shot deflected for a corner which came to nothing. The Stan though ended the half comfortably leading by 2 goals.
The Stan started the 2nd half positively but little happened until Brighouse got a corner in 52 minutes. The ball from it was cleared & Brighouse then got a free kick just outside the box which was blocked. The Stan tried to attack but remained relatively quiet until, in 58 minutes, Anderson was brought down as he was about to advance. Brighouse’s Acquah was booked as a result &, because he had already been booked a minute earlier, he was then sent off. The resulting free kick from Lamb went round the Brighouse wall forcing a full length save from their keeper Cooper. A minute later & a Stephenson corner was initially cleared to Slaughter who sent the ball back in. Cooper got down to try & catch it but only managed to do so after competition from a scramble of foots involving 3 or 4 Stan players who were trying to direct the ball into the net. The Stan kept the pressure on their 10 man opponents. In 71 minutes, form a Lamb corner, Turnbull put the ball over the bar. It was mainly all Stan pressure now including sub Walker having an effort cleared in 81 minutes followed by Lamb shooting over the bar. Lamb had a shot caught by the keeper in 84 minutes before he was substituted. In 86 minutes, a Brighouse free kick into the Stan box was cleared followed by a rebound shot being caught by Brass. There was then a sustained Stan attack which ended with the ball going across the 6 yard box but missing everyone. After 4 minutes of added time the match ended with the Stan still in control & winning 2-0.
So, the Stan march up to mid-table (13th) after a solid & hard-working performance. A win always looked assured after the 1st goal went in on 17 minutes. On Wednesday night they have another home league match when they host Garforth Town.
Kevin Mochrie
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Photo Gallery 2
2 vs 0 
Whitley Bay v Heaton Stannington
Heaton Stannington are through to the last eight of the Northumberland Senior Cup – Joe Shepherd scoring a late equaliser to send the game to a penalty shootout.
The Stan started the game on the front foot and probably should’ve had something to show from the spell of dominance. Konner Lamb was played through on 10 minutes, but took his shot too early under pressure and fluffed his lines. A few minutes later Lamb turned provider for Louis Anderson, whizzing down the left wing to cut a ball into the box – Anderson was offside which will have come as a relief to him as his shot was unfathomably off-target.
It took Whitley Bay a little while to get going – but on 17 minutes they forced goalkeeper Neil de Jesus – making just his second appearance for the club – into a low save at his near post with a powerful shot from the edge of the box.
The chances kept coming for the Stan in the first half without any success. Anderson and Kailem Beattie both had shots pushed away from a very similar position to the left of the edge of the box in the 20th minute. A killer through ball from Andy Burn to Lamb just after the half-hour mark would’ve almost certainly led to a goal if the flag hadn’t gone up. Just before half time, a long throw found Kane Evans at the back post, but his left-footed volley didn’t have the kind of power it needed to beat Whitley Bay goalkeeper Richie Crawford.
Having dominated the first half but without anything to show for it, the Stan were punished from the penalty spot. There were arguments from the Stan supporters who were best placed to see it about whether the foul took place inside or outside the box, but those protests were ignored and Callum Larmouth dispatched his kick to put the home side ahead.
The Stan’s failure to take a first-half lead looked like it was going to bite them on the backside – as Whitley Bay tried to double lead just after the hour mark through Mackenzie Sharpe send an effort fizzing just wide of the post. And in the meantime, the Stan continued to battle but found themselves frustrated in the final third.
Centre back Joe Shepherd came off the bench in place of Mark Turnbull on 78 minutes, but joined the attack as the Stan chased the equaliser. With one minute of normal time remaining, Kailem Beattie did well to hold the ball up under challenges out wide, before finding space to cross to the back post where Shepherd lurked and basically threw himself at the ball, almost taking the frame of the goal out as he bundled the ball home. To have not lost the game in normal time will have been encouraging, regardless of what was to follow in the penalty shoot-out next.
Matt Foster, Shay Richardson, Andy Burn, Kailem Beattie and Konner Lamb all put their penalties away for the Stan – so it was Whitley Bay’s Jake Forster blazing his kick over the bar that decided the outcome of the match. While survival in the Northern Premier League East Division is clearly going to be the main focus for Heaton Stan this season, the club are now two games away from a St. James’ Park final – something not to be sniffed at.
Liam Milburn
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1 vs 1 Bradford Park Avenue vs Heaton Stannington
Heaton Stannington gave themselves a mountain to climb at Bradford (Park Avenue) – and never quite recovered from a shocking start which saw them 2-0 down inside six minutes.
It was the Stan who got the game underway, playing the ball straight back to goalkeeper Lewis Brass who launched the ball upfield. The home side sent the ball back his way and put him under pressure immediately. He found Liam Doyle but the right-back’s first touch was heavy, putting the ball on a plate for the advancing Jack Normanton, who was able to scoop the ball over Brass into an empty net.
The second blow was dealt just five minutes later, as Bradford’s left winger was able to burst past Doyle out wide and then play a perfect through ball into the centre for Connor Shanks to slot away.
Many in the Horsfall Stadium would’ve expected this to become a procession, but the Stan stabilised. The damage that had been done in the early stages meant that the home side were much harder to break down, but had the game remained goalless after the opening exchanges, there’s every chance this could’ve been a positive result.
After a quarter of an hour, Dan Stephenson tried his luck from 25 yards to attempt to pull back into the game, but it wasn’t too much of a challenge for goalkeeper Ed Hall. Another 15 or so minutes later, Konner Lamb was able to burst into the area and shoot, but again, the keeper only had to move minimally to get himself on top of the ball.
While the result will have undoubtedly been a disappointment for manager Dean Nicholson and his staff, the biggest concern of the afternoon will have been the loss of Leighton Hopper, Louis Anderson and Liam Doyle to injury, with the latter looking the most serious. But the effort of the players can’t be faulted – mistakes happen but it’s how you recover and learn from them that matters, and although they came away from West Yorkshire empty-handed, they can be pleased with their work rate and determination when the game settled to keep the score down and to try to get something out of it.
Attention turns now to a Coast Road derby against Whitley Bay in the Northumberland Senior Cup, which could prove to be a good opportunity to make some changes and build some confidence ahead of a return to league action next Saturday when the Stan are at home to Brighouse Town.
Liam Milburn
2 vs 0 6 vs 1 Heaton Stannington vs Newton Aycliffe
Heaton Stannington climbed into the top half of the Pitching In Northern Premier League East Division table after coming out on top in a six-goal thriller with North East neighbours Newton Aycliffe.
Lewis Brass returned in goal after missing the previous seven games through injury – and the away side tried to put him under pressure from the kick-off, shooting from the halfway line but without enough lift or power to really test him.
The Stan struggled in the opening stages of the game with Newton Aycliffe playing with dominance and determination. Their first big chance produced the game’s first goal, with some neat passing getting them from midfield to the front line with two quick touches. Cieran Jackson seized upon the ball, weaved between two defenders to get it into his right foot, before slotting into the bottom corner.
Aycliffe tried to double their lead just a few minutes later, but Dan Capewell got down to slide in front of an attempted low cross from captain Ethan Wood. The resulting corner was cleared behind for another one – and from that, Joe Ferguson saw an effort from the edge of the box crack the post, via at least one deflection.
Having improved as the half progressed, the Stan bagged an essential equaliser on 37 minutes. The Aycliffe defence got in front of Joseph Thompson to block the ball from finding him for what would’ve surely been a goal, and then the resulting corner was saved well by the goalkeeper Jim Pollard, but only into the path of Leighton Hopper to stab home his seventh of the season.
Whatever manager Dean Nicholson said at half time had clearly had an effect, because the home side turned the game in their favour from the restart, creating all of the chances in a frantic opening 15 minutes. They deservedly went ahead just after the hour mark when a good spell of passing play in the opposition third ended up at the feet of Connor Walker with enough time and space to steady himself, pick his spot and fire the Stan into the lead.
Just six minutes later, a bit of breathing room. Brass got the ball forward, Joseph Thompson gambled on the flick from a teammate, battled with his defender to retain possession, and then racing through to slot it into the far side of the goal. Louis Anderson had only been on the pitch for around 30 seconds when he made it 4-1, running onto a neat flick by Richie Slaughter before poking home with his left foot.
It could’ve been even more comfortable just a couple of minutes later but Aycliffe’s defence tightened up and gave themselves a platform to rescue something from a game that had totally fallen away from them. It looked as though they would have a fighting chance on 78 minutes when they were awarded a penalty, but Dean Thexton blazed his kick over the bar, much to the delight of Stan goalkeeper Brass who received a booking for his overzealous celebration.
Aycliffe did pull a goal back to make it 4-2 in injury time through Cole Kiernan, but the job had been done earlier in the match with the Stan showing the kind of dominance and clinical finishing that some games have missed this season. Another historic night as the club secured its first home league win in the Northern Premier League East Division – and attention now turns to a trip to Bradford (Park Avenue) on Saturday to see if they can make it back-to-back league victories for the first time.
Liam Milburn
4 vs 2 
Clitheroe v Heaton Stannington
The Stan had a new player between the posts – and Neil de Jesus was busy throughout the afternoon. On 10 minutes, he had to act fast to push a shot to his right and then get down for the rebound, which was luckily without too much venom.
Having prevented the home side’s first big chance, he helped to get the Stan up the pitch for their first opportunity. De Jesus rolled the ball out to Marriott who launched the ball forward to Leighton Hopper, who latched onto it, knocked it down for Konner Lamb on the edge of the area, but his shot rolled towards Clitheroe goalkeeper Hakan Burton.
De Jesus was called upon again just seven minutes later, producing another spectacular save – similar to his first of the game – to prevent Clitheroe from the edge of the area.
On 26 minutes, Danny Sayer tried his luck from range with an attempt very similar to Lamb’s earlier effort, but it was similar in every way as it skidded across the surface and easily into the arms of Burton.
Having held off the home side in a dominant opening half hour, the Stan had arguably the best chance so far on 33 minutes. In a rare spell where there were plenty of amber shirts parked in the opposition box, Lamb shot across goal from the right, forcing the keeper down low. The ball was pushed into the path of Hopper who couldn’t meet it with his foot, and Beattie at the back post who could only hit the side netting.
The Stan had done well to weather something of a storm in a first half where Clitheroe dominated the ball for large spells and piled on pressure. But just seconds after the restart, things started to unravel. The home side attacked straight from their kick-off, getting the ball from their keeper to their frontline very quickly. A dangerous in-swinging ball from the right produced a stabbed finish from makeshift right-back Andy Burn into his own net, in his mind presumably trying to get his foot in front of it before the striker behind him did.
Nine minutes later, Clitheroe gave themselves some breathing room. The attack began with some good defending to keep us out – with Lamb and Sayer both having attempted blocked or saved – before getting up the pitch quickly as they had done all game. Dan Capewell did well to get the ball out of the box from their first wave of attack, but his clearance fell to Connor High in space on 55 minutes. He took one touch to control the ball, before unleashing a low powerful shot into the bottom corner, out of the reach of the diving de Jesus.
Clitheroe made sure of their win on 66 minutes. A high ball from Miles Storey sailed over the midfield and defence to Louis Potts, who brought it down beautifully, used his defender to set himself up to the shot, before guiding it into the bottom corner.
But if there’s one thing we know about Heaton Stan, they never give up, even in a position like this which they aren’t so used to after last season’s promotion heroics. If anything they improved in the closing stages as Clitheroe started to take their foot off the pedal, with substitutes Louis Anderson and Joseph Thompson particularly standing out.
Anderson went close on 78 minutes, getting through on goal but being charged down before he could get his shot off, but he would later score a consolation goal, with Dan Stephenson seizing upon a lapse in concentration in the Clitheroe defence, racing to the by-line to cut one into the box for Anderson’s tap-in. It didn’t affect the outcome of the game, but it felt right that the Stan had something to reflect the effort they’d exerted.
And so the club’s first ever FA Trophy journey draws to a close. Manager Nicholson conceded afterwards that winning the competition was always going to be a long shot, and that cementing the team in the Northern Premier League East Division would now be a welcome primary focus.
Liam Milburn
3 vs 1