Birtley Town vs Shildon AFC

Recap

Birtley Town fell to a 2-0 defeat to high-flying Shildon AFC on Saturday. 

Following a 3-0 defeat at the hands of The Railwaymen last weekend, Birtley entered the game with confidence following a 2-0 midweek win over Redcar Athletic. It was a similar story for Birtley though with Andrei Ardelean scoring twice against The Hoops following on from his hat-trick at Shildon in the reverse fixture.

Luke Outhwaite made his senior debut for the club following a strong season with our Development squad. The goalkeeper replaced Alfie Gordon who is recovering from a nasty collision sustained in the win over Redcar.

It was Shildon who dominated the opening stages with Joe Posthill and Ciaran Banks looking particularly threatening down the left-hand side and it was that combination that linked up for the opening goal on 15 minutes. Shildon broke down the left and a low cross was turned into the Birtley net by Andrei Ardelean. 

Shildon nearly doubled their lead just four minutes later. A long ball was collected by Posthill and he cut inside before unleashing a curling effort that bounced off the post. Birtley themselves looked threatening with Heslop and Ward both having efforts at goal. The Hoops were growing into the game and at times if was the final touch that prevented Birtley from creating excellent opportunities. 

In a killer blow, just before the half-time whistle, Andrei Ardelean took advantage of a Birtley defensive mix-up and curled an effort beyond Outhwaite. 

HALF TIME | Birtley Town 0-2 Shildon AFC

Birtley started the opening period of the second-half strongly with Shildon keeper Josh Mazfari smothering out James Proctor’s effort. At the other end Luke Outhwaite denied Joe Posthill before the visitors struck the crossbar. Both sides made a series of substitutions as Birtley struggled to create any meaningful chances. Outhwaite was able to deny Posthill from point blank range. In the dying moments another strong save prevented Luke Spalding from extending Shildon’s lead and they comfortably held on to claim three points while Birtley must now look to Monday’s fixture against North Shields to secure their playoff spot. 

FULL TIME | Birtley Town 0-2 Shildon AFC

Player of the Match – Luke Outhwaite

Attendance – 347

Manager Comments

Paul Bryson: “Shildon are a top side. We were a little bit disappointed that we gave away two soft goals. Andrei Ardelean must like playing against us as he has scored five goals in two games. As the game went on we changed the formation, we competed well enough but just lacked a little bit in the final third. We were playing against a top side. As the game went on we were mindful of the two games coming up this week. We wanted to keep lads fresh and that was in our thinking. We pushed for a goal but they were very dangerous on the counter attack. Luke made a couple of really good saves and fair play to him for stepping into the first team.”

H2H vs Shildon (at Birtley)
This is the first competitive fixture against Shildon at Birtley.

H2H vs Shildon (overall)
P3 W1 D0 L2 GF4 GA9

Next up
Birtley finish their league campaign with home fixtures against North Shields on Monday evening and Seaham Red Star on Thursday. Both games kick off at 7:30pm. 

Highlights

To follow…