It’s three wins on the bounce for the Robins as they put on a strong performance to put three past Northallerton Town.
Brian Smith’s team were always a threat up top, and a scoreline of only 3-1 arguably flatters the away side, as the Robins came close on many occasions
With the scores locked at 1-1 in the final fifteen minutes, Reece Wanless bagged a brace to secure the three points.
The midfield three of Turnbull, Forster and Holmes did a great job at getting the ball forward to the front three, with the main route of attack being crosses drilled across the ground into the box. Shields also looked dangerous from set-pieces, almost scoring directly on two occasions via Lewis Suddick and Josh Turnbull. The latter had sections of the Daren Persson stadium thinking he’d scored after cracking his free-kick into the side-netting
The visitor’s number nine, Lewis Martin, was their biggest threat going forward, always looking to make runs in behind the defence using his speed and strength to hold off his marker. James Sloan was given the difficult job of staying tight to him in the first half, and dug in well on one occasion to catch up to and outstrength the forward right as he was about to shoot from close range.
However, this move would foreshadow the eventual opener, as Martin found himself through on goal once again after a well-timed run. The finish would be a bit of an oddity, rebounding back off the keeper into Martin’s face and into the net.
HALF-TIME: North Shields 0-1 Northallerton Town
The Robins upped the ante in the second half, coming close twice through Wilson and Ogbewe as they dominated out wide. On the 58th minute they finally found their equaliser as Wilson slipped past his man and hammered the ball into the top corner at the near post.
North Shields’ gameplan from here on out seemed to be to create as many opportunities to cross the ball as possible, and after a flurry of substituions that included the introduction of Reece Wanless, they got their second from this avenue. Wilson was again involved as he made the initial cross, but it was the substitute who was in the right space to knock a rebounded effort back towards goal and into the net.
After another cross by Ogbewe leads to Suddick going close, the forward spotted Wanless making an overlapping run to his left inside the box, who then secured his brace with a tidy finish into the bottom right corner.
FULL-TIME: North Shields 3-1 Northallerton Town
SHIELDS XI: Callum Elliott, Lewis Suddick, Blair Adams (Darren Lough, 85′), Stephen Turnbull, Tom Bexton, James Sloan, Dean Holmes (Lee Mason, 82′), Adam Forster (C) (Reece Wanless, 74′), Daniel Wilson (Jake Lish, 86′), Stephen Hall (Ben Sampson, 46′), Nelson Ogbewe
