Shildon Juniors Under 14s hosted Newton Aycliffe on Sunday 25th January and a hard fought contest ended in a 1-1 draw.
The game was even as a contest throughout. Shildon took the lead when Steven Dawson finished superbly with a right foot shot high into the corner of the net in the 17th minute.
Niall Higham in the Shildon goal pulled off a couple of superb saves to maintain Shildon’s advantage.
In the 56th minute an attacking move from Shildon broke down and Aycliffe broke at speed. Aycliffe’s Centre forward smacked a speculative effort which gave Higham on this occasion no chance for the leveller.
Shildon welcomed Centre Forward and top scorer Noah McCourt back onto the pitch for the last 10 minutes after a two month lay off.
A cross from the left hand side was put in towards McCourt in the 65th minute. He took a fantastic 1st touch and then smacked a shot towards the left hand of the goal, which the Aycliffe keeper superbly pushed round the post to deny the returning Striker.
Shildon pressed for a winner in the last 10 minutes with Aycliffe still posing a threat on the counter, however no more goals arrived and the game ended in a well-deserved draw.
Man-of-the-match: Niall Higham.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
