Match Report: Scarborough Athletic 1-2 South Shields

South Shields picked up another three points on the road on Saturday as they defeated a hard-working Scarborough Athletic outfit 2-1 at Scarborough Sports Village.

Paul Blackett broke the deadlock with his 60th minute penalty, before Kyle Crossley added to things with an outstanding hit from tight-range in the 75th minute.

The hosts brought one back thanks to an impressive free-kick by Lewis Maloney around five minutes from the whistle, but the added fervour around the ground couldn’t quite inspire a late comeback from The Seadogs.

Aidan Rutledge was handed a start as Elliott Dickman made one change from the team which lined up against Scunthorpe United on Bank Holiday Monday, with Tom Broadbent ultimately making way for the forward. 

The first-half was a largely uneventful affair but there were some chances of note to highlight.

Luca Colville was taken off quite early due to a rough challenge and he was replaced by Scarborough’s man of the match, Dom Tear.

Coleby Shepherd broke down the left-hand side to find Blackett but Ryan Whitley did well to make a last-gasp stop.

Only a few minutes later Rutledge came out victorious in a midfield scrap but Blackett’s shot couldn’t threaten Whitley at all.

Likewise Kieran Glynn tried the same thing and his effort was straight at Myles Boney, on the brink of half-time.

Things improved following the break and you could see the crowd, both home and away, getting behind their team to try and spur on a positive result either way.

Michael Duckworth ran down the right-hand side this time and Frank Mulhern was there to try and make something out of it - close but not perfectly on target. 

Shields were afforded a penalty in the 60th minute when captain Robert Briggs was taken down in the box by Tear.

Blackett made no mistake and celebrated with the Shields supporters, who had travelled in their numbers.

Scarborough were denied a penalty chance when Harry Green raced through on goal and was challenged by Shepherd. 

But any doubts of an equaliser were put beyond doubt when Crossley charged down the left and struck his resulting shot in the back of the net.

Maloney struck a fantastically-worked free-kick with minutes to spare which gave the hosts something to use as motivation to find a second, but those efforts were in vain.

Shields must now prepare for Tuesday night’s clash against Buxton at 1st Cloud Arena.

South Shields: Boney, Okeke, Shepherd (Jenkins), Bramwell, Briggs, Mee, Heaney, Middlemas, Crossley, Blackett (McGowan), Rutledge. 

Unused substitutes: Seymour, Taylor, Watts. 

Goals: Blackett (‘60), Crossley (‘75)

Scarborough Athletic: Whitley, Weledji, Duckworth (Green), Maloney, Gooda, Glynn (Wilson), Purver (Maltby), Mulhern (Wiles), Colville (Tear), Brown, Bennett. 

Unused substitutes: None.

Goals: Maloney (‘86)