Recap
Birtley Town picked up their first league victory of the season with a comfortable 4-0 victory over Horden CW on Friday night.
It took just two minutes for Birtley to take the lead. Making his first start of the season, Nick Marley delivered a pinpoint cross which found Scott Heslop unmarked in the area and he directed a beautiful header into the corner.
Horden should have equalised soon after on six minutes when Phil Angus was played in but with just the goalkeeper to beat, he dragged his effort wide. That proved to be costly.
Birtley should’ve been two ahead on just nine minutes when Nick Marley closed down Horden goalkeeper Robert Dean’s clearance. Winning back possession, he passed the ball into an empty net only for the referee to award a bizarre free-kick to the visitors.
The Hoops did double their lead on ten minutes. Callum Smith delivered a brilliant corner and Jack Honour was at the back post to nod home.
The game was over in the 17th minute. A long Sam Hedley throw-in was glanced on by a Horden defender and his teammate Connor Gales used his hand to stop the ball from crossing the line. The referee awarded the penalty and Gales was given his marching orders. Callum Smith stepped up and sent Dean the wrong way to make it 3-0.
On 25 minutes, a free kick for Birtley was played along the floor by Honour to Heslop. He laid it off wide to Hailes who delivered a low ball across the face of goal, somehow missing everyone in green and eventually being cleared.
Horden were reduced to nine men on 27 minutes as Jason Blackburn’s disgraceful two footed lunge on Sam Hedley saw the Horden striker sent off. Hedley was unable to continue and tempers flared due to the nature of the tackle.
Half-Time | Birtley Town 3-0 Horden CW
The second-half was a much calmer affair with Horden content to let Birtley have the majority of possession. Both sides made a number of substitutions as the tempo of the game dropped off significantly.
It wasn’t until the 70th minute that Scott Heslop extended Birtley’s lead from the penalty spot after Nick Marley had been brought down in the area and thats how it finished.
Full-Time | Birtley Town 4-0 Horden CW
Attendance – 238
Player of the Match – TBC
H2H vs Horden (at Birtley Town)
P9 W4 D1 L4 GF22 GA16
| DATE | HOME | F | A | AWAY | COMPETITION | ATT. | GOALSCORERS |
| 25.08.1997 | Birtley Town | 10 | 1 | Horden C.W. | Wearside League | U/K | S. Holland x4 | J. Melling x4 G. Hood x2 |
| 19.01.2008 | Birtley Town | 0 | 3 | Horden C.W. | NL Div 2 | U/K | – |
| 25.03.2009 | Birtley Town | 1 | 1 | Horden C.W. | NL Div 2 | U/K | Stephen Graham |
| 09.04.2011 | Birtley Town | 4 | 2 | Horden C.W. | NL Div 2 | 25 | A. McIntosh x2 | O. Peterson B. Richardson |
| 24.03.2012 | Birtley Town | 1 | 0 | Horden C.W. | NL Div 2 | 42 | J. Martin |
| 16.04.2013 | Birtley Town | 0 | 2 | Horden C.W. | NL Div 2 | 33 | – |
| 29.09.2021 | Birtley Town | 5 | 3 | Horden C.W. | NL Div 2 | 171 | A. Clarkson x2 | T. Charmey C. Campos-Loughlin | J. Barwick |
| 04.03.2023 | Birtley Town | 1 | 2 | Horden C.W. | NL Div 2 | 157 | A. Rutledge (P) |
| 24.08.2024 | Birtley Town | 0 | 2 | Horden C.W. | FA Vase | First Qualifying Round | 212 | – |
Next up..
The Hoops travel to Guisborough on Wednesday evening with a 7:45pm kick off. The postcode for The KGV Ground is TS14 6LE. We’d love to see you there supporting the lads on the road.
