Birtley Town vs Shildon AFC

Recap

Birtley Town produced a superb battling comeback to beat Shildon 4-3 on Saturday.

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The Hoops produced a memorable second half display to overcome a 3-1 first half deficit. Sam Dinsley and Kyle Wharton returned to the side following their suspensions alongside Owen Lancaster. Birtley got off the worst possible start though falling behind after just two minutes. A delightfully chipped pass from Nathan Greenwood was met with perfect timing by Luke Spalding who slotted the ball into the bottom corner. Birtley were back level on 14 minutes when James Proctor found Scott Heslop on the halfway line. His clever through ball was met by Matty Ward who carried the ball before neatly curling the ball into the bottom corner from around twenty yards out. 

Shildon restored their lead on 22 minutes. Adam Lennox produced a delightful back heel that found Ciaran Banks. Banks was able to steady himself before delivering a low cross that evaded Sam Hedley. Billy Greulich-Smith was on hand to steer the ball beyond Gordon. Adam Lennox extended Shildon’s lead on 38 minutes. Lennox scored from the penalty spot after a rash challenge from Sam Dinsley awarded The Railwaymen the chance to double their lead. In fairness to Birtley, The Hoops competed in the first half but a couple of lapses in concentration were punished by a ruthless Shildon frontline. 

HALF TIME | Birtley Town 1 – 3 Shildon AFC

The Hoops came out from their half-time team talk firing on all cylinders. Owen Lancaster delivered an unbelievable pass that found Scott Heslop. His first touch was excellent but his effort was well saved by Andrew Jennison. Just a minute later saw Benji Shodeinde brought down in the area and the assistant referee signalled for a penalty. James Proctor stepped up and dinked his effort straight down the middle to bring Birtley back into the game.  Birtley were level just one minute later. Matty Ward picked up the ball and drove at the Shildon backline. His low cross was met by Benji Shodeinde but his effort was miraculously saved by the head of keeper Jennison. The rebound looped in the air and Benji was on hand to head home. 

Shildon came back into the game following Birtley’s equaliser. The visitors had a headed effort deflected wide from a corner. At the other end a first time pass from Kaleb Young released Shodeinde but his effort was well saved by Jennision. The Hoops were causing problems with their tireless running in-behind the Shildon backline.

Birtley found the all important winner on 82 minutes. A Lewis Exley cross was contested between Scott Heslop and the Shildon defenders, the ball dropped kindly to Heslop who prodded home from close range, much to the delight of the Birtley support. Matty Ward looked to extend Birtley’s lead but was prevented by a superb last-ditch block from Shildon skipper Aaron Cunningham. 

The officials announced five minutes of added time. Shildon pressed for an equaliser back into the game.  A deep cross was met by a terrific volley from Cunningham but Alfie Gordon produced a brilliant save to keep Birtley in the lead. Moments later at the other end Benji Shodeinde effort was excellently tipped over the bar as Birtley broke on the counter attack through Matty Boyd. The Hoops were able to ride out the remaining minutes to secure a brilliant three points. 

FULL TIME | Birtley Town 4 – 3 Shildon AFC

Match sponsor – LiveFit14

Attendance – 228 including a sizeable following from The Railwaymen

Man of the Match – Matty Ward

Manager’s Corner

Reece Chapman: “The lads have produced a fantastic response to last week! We’re over the moon with the result and performance, especially the second half performance. Shildon were very good, they are well coached, know their roles really well. They created some good opportunities in the first half and when they go ahead inside 90 seconds it’s always going to be an uphill battle. Especially when they hadn’t conceded in 3 games. However, we responded brilliantly and deserved to level just before 15 minutes.

For the reminder of the half, I felt that we created a few half chances but gave Shildon far too much respect. Their form and league position warrants the respect but not to the level we gave them. The second half was much more like us, we were full of energy, aggression, and competed for every ball. We showed quality in good moments and ultimately, we deserved the win. I don’t think anyone would disagree over the 90 minutes. With a couple of late chances we had it could have been more too.

The biggest thing now is to follow it up in our next fixtures. We’ve taken points off many of the top 8 so we know we’re a good side, we’ve just got to be more consistent now”.

H2H vs Shildon (at Birtley)
P1 W0 D0 L1 GF0 GA2

Next up…

Birtley travel to Seaham Red Star on Saturday for a 3pm kick-off

Highlights