The Daren Persson Stadium, home of North Shields FC, played host to an incredibly entertaining and eventful Saturday afternoon. Allotment were making their return to the Ebac Northern League Division One where they would face a tough test away at a North Shields side who are expected to be title challengers.
The first real opportunity of the game fell to the home side after 14 minutes. Van-Zandvliet was causing problems down the right and his run led to the ball falling to Brooks in the area and his shot on goal was fired over the target.
16 minutes in, the game turned well and truly into West Allotment's favour. There appeared to be a huge mix-up at the back for North Shields as their goalkeeper Purvis made a huge error which Regan Paterson capitalised on. The ball appeared to be rolling out of play, Paterson stopped the ball just before it went out, cut in on his right foot taking the Shield's defender out of the equation and calmly put the ball into the net. Allotment had taken the lead.
Allotment continued to play some tidy football throughout the first half. The passing game was causing Shields some problems as well as Chapim and Errington winning a lot of 50/50s in the middle of the park.
Half an hour in, Shields did come close to a leveller. A well-timed cross from the left flank found the head of their striker who was unable to keep his header down and ultimately went over the bar.
Despite that, Allotment should have doubled their lead on 33 minutes. A cross from the right found Rui Martins and he completely miss-timed the ball coming to his feet and put the ball well over the bar from a couple of yards out.
The boys in green came close again on 39 minutes. A corner was delivered from Martins which found the head of Graham Williams. Again, the header went over the bar... Close again.
One more half chance fell for Shields before half time as their number 9 turned and got a snapshot away on goal but was claimed comfortably by the gloves of Hodgson. Allotment leading 0-1 at the break.
The second half became a different story compared to the opening 45 minutes. A change of system for the home side and probably the hairdryer treatment as well seemed to spring Shields into life.
On 53 minutes, North Shields came close to finding the net as the ball found Ormston at the back post and his header went inches wide. Moments later, Hodgson was called into action as he pulled off a terrific save to deny Cunningham from close-range.
After an hour of play, Allotment did manage to weather the storm and create an opportunity of their own. The pace of Paterson on the counterattack led to him breaking away however, his attempt on goal did not trouble the target.
On 68 minutes, Callum Smith almost found the equaliser for Shields but, yet again, Hodgson was the difference as he pulled off another save.
Unfortunately, all the great defending that Allotment had been doing over the course of the game had been undone after 82 minutes. The home side won a freekick in a dangerous area, the cross was delivered and Dan Wilson was able to react first to the loose ball at the back post and prod the ball into the back of the net.
A few minutes later, Shields came close to landing a knockout blow. A pinball situation in the Allotment box ended with the ball striking the post.
The last big moment of the game came on 88 minutes where West Allotment came so close to grabbing the win. Paterson found himself on the counterattack in a 2 on 1 situation with Larmouth in support. The ball fell to Larmouth's feet and he was denied twice in quick succession by the Shield's goalkeeper.
The game ultimately ended all-square with 1-1 being the the full-time score.
North Shields: Purvis, Cassidy, McDonald, Ormston(c), Myers, Walker, Van-Zandvliet (Lamb 80'), Cunningham (Leonard 88'), Wilson, Robinson, Brooks (Smith 66')
Goal: Wilson (82')
West Allotment: Hodgson, Higgins, Parkinson, Errington, Scott (c), Williams, Paterson, Chapim, Larmouth, Thompson (Beeston 69'), Martins
Goal: Paterson (16')
Attendance: 385
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