Shildon Youth under 15’s maintained their superb form with a magnificent 3-0 away victory in the quarter finals of the Challenge Cup against Spraire Lads in Darlington.
Spraire Lads, from the division above Shildon, had already guaranteed promotion this season and fancied themselves superior to Shildon, however, they were in for a surprise.
In great conditions on a super pitch, Shildon began the match well and had the ball in the net 4 minutes into the game, but the referee cut short the celebrations by ruling Dawson’s close range effort after a cross by McCourt as offside.
The first half proved a fantastic contest as both sides looked to gain the advantage but the game remained scoreless at half time.
Five minutes after the break, a superb through ball by Campbell released Steven Dawson, who was not to be denied a second time, as he rolled the ball past the keeper into the bottom corner to give Shildon the lead.
Shildon started to get on top and they wore their opponents down and gained a penalty as Dawson was bundled over in the box in the 60th minute. This resulted in Adam Campbell slamming the ball into the bottom corner which gave the keeper no chance to make it 2-0.
In the 69th minute Shildon completed the scoring when Dylan Rutherford launched the ball over a corner which evaded everyone and hit the back of the net before floating into the top right hand corner.
Spraire Lads tried to apply some pressure towards the end of the match but Niall Higham in goal refused to buckle and made a superb treble save to keep the home side out. The verdict was: ‘a tremendous result’.
Man of the match went to Dylan Rutherford.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
