On Thursday evening, Shildon AFC will complete their fifth home match in a row and their tenth Northern League Division One match in just twenty days when they take on Dunston UTS at Dean Street.
By the time the month ends, the side will have completed an exhausting series thirteen matches in just twenty-seven days.
Unsurprisingly, the side has dished up a mixed bag of results, although they have won more points than they have dropped. The sequence reads, won five, drawn one and lost four.
One of the defeats came last weekend in front of the club’s largest crowd of the season when over 1,300 turned out for the visit of league leaders, Darlington 1883.
The runaway leaders proved too strong for the Railwaymen and saw out a comfortable 2-0 victory.
Following hot on the heels was the visit of Bedlington Terriers on Monday night, giving the home side the opportunity to avenge a humiliating 8-1 reverse which came days before the side’s FA Vase semi-final second leg.
It was perhaps understandable that the players’ minds were looking forward to that match, although no excuse could be offered for the margin of defeat against a side decimated by its current financial crisis.
However, Shildon duly took revenge on Monday night, winning easily by 3-0. Mark Hudson opened the scoring early on with a penalty in five minutes after Ben Wood was hauled down by Robert Eastway.
Jamie Owens doubled the lead when he sidefooted home Calum Dobson’s spill from a Michael Tait shot on the half hour and completed a brace with Shildon’s third on 67 minutes – a rare right footed finish from the prolific left-footed striker.
Given the packed schedule it is encouraging for the players that they still remain on course for a third place finish should they put together a winning sequence.
Meanwhile, the club was saddened to annouce that midfielder, Craig Hughes has had to cut short his playing days on medical advice after sustaining a horror knee injury in a cup match several weeks ago.
Hughes will continue his association with the club through his role as the head coach at the Shildon’s youth development centre.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
