Heaton Stannington vs Birtley Town

Recap

The Battle of the Swamp resulted in a hard fought 0-0 draw between two of the league’s promotion hopefuls on Easter Monday. 

Neither Heaton Stannington or Birtley Town could find the all important break through on a treacherous day in Newcastle. Both sides deserve tremendous credit for dealing with difficult conditions and providing 502 spectators with a brilliant game. The Hoops were unchanged from the side that beat Newcastle Benfield at the weekend. Both sides struggled to create any meaningful opportunities in the first period with the conditions proving extremely difficult. The Hoops dominated the middle stages of the first half but were unable to create any real chances despite heavy pressure. Leighton Hopper flashed the ball just wide on 32 minutes as Stan started to dominate possession just before half-time. An excellent save from Alfie Gordon followed by a goal line clearance from Stephen Hall helped keep the scores level as Heaton finished the stronger of the two sides. Moments later, Leighton Hopper found Sayer but his effort flew over the crossbar and released the pressure off Birtley. 

HALF TIME | Heaton Stannington 0-0 Birtley Town

The second half followed on from the first with both sides battling to create chances. Liam Wotherspoon and Kyle Wharton were superb in the midfield battle, looking to pick up second balls and prevent Stan attacks. The Birtley backline stood up to large periods of pressure in the opening stages of the second half with Hornsby and Hopper both having efforts at goal. The best chance of the game fell to Jordan Lashley but Alfie Gordon was quickly off his line to make a superb save. The Birtley stopper denied Lashley who nearly scored with his first touch. Glen Hargrave’s first touch resulted in a glancing header going narrowly wide as both sides probed for the opening goal. Scott Heslop came close to opening the scoring as his curling effort went narrowly over from the edge of the penalty area as Birtley finished the stronger of the two sides. Birtley thought they had nicked a famous victory in the dying moments when a Dan Wilds cross avoided everyone and went narrowly wide of the post. In fairness, a draw was a fair result and both sides deserved to take a point in a fiercely contested clash.

Birtley would like to thank Heaton Stannington for their hospitality and hard work in ensuring the fixture went ahead.

FULL TIME | Heaton Stannington 0-0 Birtley Town

Attendance – 502

Player of the Match – Kyle Wharton

The result kept Birtley in third position and two places above Heaton Stannington. The Stan are two points behind both Birtley and West Auckland but have played fewer games. West Auckland could only draw with Crook Town which kept them in fourth position. At the top of the table, Shildon were 3-1 winners against Bishop Auckland. A result which blows the title race wide open. 

Manager’s corner

Paul Bryson: “I am delighted with the performance and the point. Both sides provided us with a really good encounter in difficult conditions. The two sides went toe to toe with each other and a draw was probably a fair result. Alfie made a fantastic save in the second half but we also had chances at the end of the game with a header that narrowly went wide.

The first half was fairly even, the second half Heaton Stan were asking questions but we looked dangerous on the counter attack. I am absolutely delighted with our lads, with five games to go we have given ourselves a brilliant chance of making the play-offs. That would be a brilliant achievement and fantastic for the club. It would be brilliant for the players.

I thought today showed that we have different abilities and we can play in different types of games. I thought every single player was right at it, they showed great togetherness. We showed unbelievable fight to keep a clean sheet and comeback with a fantastic point against a top side. We are delighted and now look forward to Seaham at home on Saturday. We will have Ex back in the squad so everything is looking healthy.”

H2H vs Heaton Stannington (at Heaton)
P6 W0 D2 L4 GF5 GA17

Next up…

Birtley host Seaham Red Star in a 3pm kick-off on Saturday, followed by another home game on Tuesday 9th against North Shields (7.30pm kick-off). 

Highlights…

To follow…