South Shields suffered a set-back in their play off push as a late fightback was not enough to earn a point away at Scunthorpe United in an entertaining clash. The hosts, unbeaten at the Attis Arena in the league since early November, knew victory over the Mariners would take them into the top two of the division and they were ahead inside the first ten minutes.
Some smart work and quick feet by Kian Scales on halfway opened up space in the final third as he slipped through Joe Rowley who found himself one on one with Myles Boney. The winger calmly slotted the ball through Boney’s legs to give United the lead after a fast start and put Shields on the back foot inside nine minutes.
In Paul Blackett, though, the away side possess the top scorer in the division, and he made it fifteen for the season on the fifteenth minute. Mackenzie Heaney’s innocuous lofted pass towards the forward was misjudged by Andrew Boyce as he headed it towards his own goal and, with Blackett’s anticipation, he raced through and confidently passed the ball round Ross Fitzsimons and into the Scunthorpe net to level things up early on in an entertaining contest.
With two sides playing free-flowing football and placing emphasis on attacking quality, the clash became an open contest between two strong footballing elevens. Boney was key to keeping the score level after he smartly denied the threatening Callum Roberts with his feet from close range before Dillon Morse bravely blocked Rowley’s rebounding strike as the home side looked to restore their lead just after the twenty-minute mark.
Fitzsimons was then called into action on half an hour after Shields captain, Robert Briggs, displayed magnificent technique to control a half volley as the ball spun towards him from twenty yards. His low and fizzing strike was read well by the keeper as he palmed the ball away from the left corner.
It was then Roberts’ turn again to come close as he intricately created an angle for himself on the right-hand side, wriggling away from Coleby Shepherd and Ashton Mee and curling one that agonisingly evaded the top left corner as Boney watched the ball fizz marginally wide.
In what was a thoroughly entertaining half of football, it looked certain to finish level until Roberts, who had threatened all half, was found brilliantly by his captain, Michael Clunan and Roberts once again moved easily away from Shepherd on the right-hand side. The attacker wrong-footed Boney and fired the ball into the near corner through a crowd of bodies as Scunthorpe regained the lead in the second minute of added time much to the frustration of Shields who had competed excellently with their positionally superior opponents for the majority of the half.
As the second half got underway, the 3600 strong crowd found their voice as Scunthorpe were roared on in front of their fans behind the goal. Whilst the second forty-five lacked the same quality in possession and regularity of chances as the first, it only took the home team ten minutes to make it three. An inviting free-kick from the left was smartly glanced into the corner by striker, Danny Whitehall, as he used the pace on the set-piece to find the corner and leave Boney with no chance as Shields now had to find a way to come from two goals down to leave Lincolnshire with a point.
A scrappy passage of play after Scunthorpe’s third goal looked to be the conclusion of the encounter until substitute, Kyle Crossley, superbly spotted Heaney’s run from deep and the latter latched onto the pass and cleverly stretched to curl the ball into the far corner and give Shields a lifeline in front of the 106 travelling fans in the eighty-first minute.
As the fourth official signalled for seven minutes added time, the Mariners forced the home side deep into their half and much to the growing frustration of the home supporters, were looking increasingly likely to create a chance to equalise when the game looked dead and buried just minutes before. Shields were then agonisingly denied a dramatic equaliser in the first minute of stoppage time when Iestyn Hughes managed to dig out a cross that was flicked goalwards by Briggs. It looked certain to end up in the corner with the Shields coaching staff and substitutes already out of the dugout until Fitzsimons produced the match winning moment to somehow claw the ball over the bar as it looked destined for the top corner.
A save worthy of winning any football match and the home side learnt from their initial defensive naivety to eventually see out the six remaining minutes with only a couple of corners to really test them. As they cleared the final set-piece and referee Dean Watson sounded the last blast of his whistle, the Attis Arena erupted as their side climbed to second place in what was an entertaining and high-scoring clash.
After three consecutive postponed matches before Saturday, Shields now enter a very congested part of the season in which rearranged matches are being played throughout February. They look to get back to winning ways next Saturday at home to Scarborough Athletic, hoping to lower the gap between themselves and the play-off spots down to four points as they enter a crucial part of the campaign.
Scunthorpe United: Fitzsimons, Kouogun, Boyce (Evans, 45), Clunan (Kelly, 74), Beestin (Ubaezuono, 66), Whitehall (Beck, 67), Roberts (Fadera, 73), Rowley, Scales, Denton, Rose
Goals: Rowley (9’), Roberts (45+2’), Whitehall (56’)
South Shields: Boney, Hughes, Morse, Briggs, Broadbent, Shepherd, Smith (Ward, 69), (Myers-Smith, 84), Mee (Jenkins, 58), Heaney, Allan (Crossley, 45), Blackett
Unused Substitutes: Seymour
Goals: Blackett (15’), Heaney (81’)
Attendance: 3627 (106 away supporters)
Image Credit: Kev Wilson
(@KevWilson19)
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