Shildon returned to third place in the table on Saturday and closed the gap to Easington Colliery after the second place side were surprisingly thrashed 5-0 by Birtley Town on the same afternoon.
The Railwaymen secured a narrow win over Yarm & Eaglecliffe, leapfrogging the weekend visitors to Dean Street after the sides had swapped places the previous week.
On a dismal, wet and windy day, the winning goal by Ben Reay came in the 79th minute, just three minutes after Yarm’s Joshua Marshall was shown his marching orders.
Cutting inside on the right, Jack Blackford’s left foot shot from the edge of the penalty area was saved by Lee Callum Roberts in the visiting goal, but Reay was on hand to punce on the loose ball to secure a vital three points.
The goal earned manager, Chris Hughes’ praise afterwards.
“I’m chuffed to bits with Ben to score those types of goals,” he said, “because he hasn’t always scored those types of goals. It’s something he’s been consciously working on, so it’s nice to see him get that today.”
With the Railwaymen resting in midweek ahead of their FA Vase tie this weekend, leaders Bishop Auckland were able to extend their lead at the top on Tuesday evening.
Having demolished Northallerton Town on Saturday by 7-0, they stretched eight points clear of Shildon on Tuesday night with a 2-0 home win over Redcar Town.
Shildon now have two games in hand over each of the top two and sit four points behind Easington.
The Railwaymen remain at home for their FA Vase tie, with Carlisle City standing between them and a place in the Third Round.
The sides met at the end of September in the league and at the same venue, when the visitors snatched a late equaliser in a 1-1 draw.
Hughes expressed his confidence that Shildon go into the game as favourites, having created several excellent chances in that league encounter. However, the football romantic in the manager would have preferred to see fans and players alike welcome a new club to Dean Street.
“It’ll be a tough match,” he conceded, “but after training on Tuesday and Thursday, we will be fresh and ready to go.”
Barring Saturday’s tie resulting in a midweek replay, Shildon will travel to mid-table Whitley Bay next Tuesday evening on league duty. Kick-off in that one will be 7.30pm.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
