Recap
A much improved Birtley performance was rewarded with a 1-1 draw against Newcastle Blue Star on Friday evening.
Blue Star started the better of the two sides with Jordan Lamb drawing Alfie Gordon into a fantastic early save. The Hoops were defending well with Kev Dixon returning to the club and offering a commanding performance in the middle of defence. Henderson fired a long range effort for Blue Star while at the other end, Dan Lister denied Scott Heslop from a free-kick.
On 41 minutes, Scott Heslop picked the ball up midway into the Blue Star half. He lofted a pass to Matthew Ward who drove in towards the penalty area before unleashing a strong effort that could only be spilled by Lister, Heslop himself having managed to make up the ground was able to bundle the ball into the net to give Birtley the lead and score the Hoops’ 1000th Northern League goal.
HALF TIME | Birtley Town 1 – 0 Newcastle Blue Star
Blue Star were back on level terms on 55 minutes. A short header from Kev Dixon was capitalised on leaving Alfie Gordon with no real alternative than to bring down the Blue Star attacker Dan Lanning in the area. Sean Reid stepped up to put Blue Star level. Birtley reacted well to the equaliser and pressed for a way back into the lead. Birtley had opportunities through Heslop and Ward but Lister denied both. The best opportunity came as Nick Marley broke free and cutting back inside but his opportunity was again denied by Lister.
On 70 minutes, Scott Heslop looked to have knocked the ball beyond Dan Lister but Lister, 25 yards from goal, handled the ball to prevent a glorious chance for Birtley. The referee produced a straight red card for Lister and with no recognised goalkeeper on the bench, striker Tolu Osiyemi took over between the posts. The resulting set piece saw Scott Heslop’s strong effort spilt by Osiyemi but Matthew Ward fired the rebound wide from six yards out. An additional 9 minutes was added on, mostly the result of the lengthy delay following the sending off but Birtley were unable to create any meaningful opportunities, stand in keeper Osiyemi enjoying his cameo in goal by annoying the Birtley faithful with some clever time-wasting tactics.
FULL TIME | Birtley Town 1 – 1 Newcastle Blue Star
A much improved Birtley performance as they now have their sights on four consecutive away games.
Manager’s Corner
Reece Chapman: “I thought we were good against Blue Star, especially given the injury problems we’ve got, but we’re not the only ones. They are a strong side, Nashy has them coached well. We had a squad of 14 with lads with injuries even on the bench. Ryan had his first start of the season and worked tremendously hard throughout the game and Kev signed the day before to help us out and turned in a fantastic display. We were good value for the point and even had chances to take all three. We had a good shape and limited Blue Star’s attacking opportunities, so we were pleased. We’ve taken a point from two games against Crook and Blue Star but if we had taken our chances we’d be sat here with all 6 and I don’t think there would have been many complaints so credit to the lads to have worked so hard, I’m sure our luck will turn if we keep applying ourselves as we have recently”.
H2H v Newcastle Blue Star
This was the first competitive meeting between the two sides.
Next up…
Birtley now start a run of four consecutive away games, starting with a trip across the A69 to Carlisle City on Tuesday night. Seats on the bus are £15 and we will be leaving the Hanlon at 4:30pm. Get in touch ASAP if you would like a seat.
Highlights
