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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2026-05-05 Whitley Bay SCF

What a night & what a season for the Stan who lifted the Senior cup for the 1st time and on the hallowed pitch of St James’ Park in front of a huge crowd of 3841. The Stan matched their opponents & the fact that they play in the league below Morpeth was not apparent from their display on the pitch. They held their nerve during the penalties & thoroughly deserved their win after 1st entering the Senior Cup 100 years ago in the 1925-26 season. They had not played in the Senior Cup final since 1980, having also played in it in 1964, & had not played at St James’ Park since 1990. Winning the Senior Cup rounded off a great season which had seen the Stan play at the 4th Tier of non-league football for the 1st time & deservedly avoided relegation including through only losing once away in the league in 2025. There were 3 changes from the final league game with Brass, Capewell & Lamb replacing Cassop, Turnbull & Errington. This historic match was particularly so for Dan Stephenson who started his 150th match for the club & Richie Slaughter who was starting his 100th. It was a family final for Kane Evans as his brother Rhys was playing for Morpeth.

The Stan started positively & had the 1st effort of the match in the 3rd minute when Hopper passed to Slaughter just outside the box but his effort went just over the Morpeth bar. Although there was much activity in the middle of the pitch, the next clear attack was for Morpeth but not until the 8th minute when the ball was deflected out for a corner from which the ball was cleared. 2 minutes later & a defensive mistake allowed Lamb in, but the Morpeth keeper mopped up the ball before Lamb could do anything with it. The game was still very even when, in 15 minutes, Morpeth attacked & after an initial clearance the ball came back in & they had their 1st shot of the match which went over the Stan bar from just outside the Stan 6-yard box. In 19 minutes, the Stan had a sustained attack which ended with the Morpeth keeper punching out a ball from Slaughter for a corner. From Stephenson’s corner, the ball was initially cleared but it landed with Lamb whose effort from the edge of the box went well wide. In 23 minutes, a Morpeth player sneaked through the Stan defence, but his shot went wide. In the 28th minute, the Stan came close to scoring when Stephenson sent a free kick into the Morpeth box to Slaughter but the ball was cleared back to the edge of the box to Stephenson whose long-range effort hit the bar. The Stan kept the pressure on & won a corner from which Robson had a header at the far post cleared on the line. In the 31st minute though it was Morpeth’s turn to have an effort when they sent a long range shot over the Stan bar from a good goal scoring opportunity. Hopper then had an effort cleared & it was followed by a couple of minutes of Morpeth pressure that included a clearance by the Stan then a shot going over the Stan bar under pressure. In 36 minutes, Slaughter supplied Lamb but his shot went straight to the Morpeth keeper under pressure. Slaughter, who was battling well, & Evans then stopped a Morpeth attack. In 39 minutes, a long ball into the Stan box saw great defending by Evans who was fouled. Soon after, a joined-up Morpeth attack saw Brass brought into action for the 1st time when he had to block with his feet. The ball eventually went back into the Stan 6-yard box but was cleared by Slaughter. A Morpeth attack was then deflected out for a corner from which Shepherd put the ball out for another corner which was cleared. In the 43rd minute, Lamb won the ball & advanced but was brought down just outside the Morpeth box when he had a clear goal scoring opportunity. The guilty Morpeth player, who was the last man, was booked rather than being sent off. The resulting Stephenson free kick hit the wall & Lamb’s follow up shot was cleared followed by an uneventful minute of added time.

The 2nd half although still relatively even, saw less chances for both teams. The 1st shot came in the 49th minute when a Slaughter long range effort went just over. The Morpeth keeper then had to parry shots by Lamb & Burn but this was followed almost immediately by Brass having to get down to block at the other end followed by Evans ensuring that the ball was cleared. In 53 minutes, Slaughter made 2 clearances followed by another by Shepherd. There was another Morpeth attack in the 57th minute which saw Brass get down to save a shot from the edge of the box. The Stan then had an attack cleared. In the 60th minute, a Morpeth 30-yard free kick went well over the bar. After a couple of Stan advances, Morpeth shot wide in the 63rd minute. Both teams were trying to attack but the next effort came in the 68th minute when Shepherd shot wide. In 72 minutes, Slaughter passed to Burn who sent the ball to Hopper & although he made a great run he was dispossessed just outside the box. The match was pretty even now with neither team really threatening. In 85 minutes, a Morpeth corner saw one of their players fall in the box allowing a Stan counter attack that was cleared. In 87 minutes, a Stan attack ended with a Burn long range effort going well over. Morpeth then attacked but a high ball was caught by Brass. Into 4 minutes of added time & a Morpeth ball into the Stan box was cleared allowing Hopper to counterattack but he was brought down. The resulting free kick into the box from sub Groves was cleared back to him & his follow up shot was caught by the keeper. In 94 minutes, a poor clearance by a Morpeth player allowed Hopper to have a shot but it was caught by the keeper. Morpeth then sent the ball into the Stan box, but the advancing player couldn’t make contact & the ball went out. The match therefore ended in a stalemate & went straight to penalties.

The penalties were taken at the Gallowgate End, nearest the Morpeth fans who were located at that end of the East stand. Morpeth took the 1st penalty & both teams scored their 1st 4 penalties with Slaughter, Hopper, Burn & sub Adamson scoring for the Stan. Lewis Brass saved Morpeth’s 5th penalty but then Langley in the Morpeth goal saved Walker’s penalty. On to sudden death & Brass saved Morpeth’s 6th penalty. The pressure was now on Dan Groves to score & he did so confidently for the Stan to win 5-4 on penalties. The team & coaches all ran onto the pitch to congratulate him & the Stan were now Northumberland Senior Cup Winners for 2024-25.

There were wild celebrations after the winning penalty & the Stan were presented with the trophy in front of their supporters in the East Stand. There had been a great confident performance from all of the team although specific mention should be given to Richie Slaughter who was outstanding all night in the midfield & for Lewis Brass for his 2 penalty saves. So, it’s time to celebrate & have a rest before the 2025-26 pre-season friendlies begin on 5 July.

Kevin Mochrie

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