Shildon AFC welcomed FA Vase winners, Spennymoor Town, to Dean Street on Bank Holiday Monday in the visiting club’s first match since lifting the trophy at Wembley on Saturday.
It was a severely depleted home squad that faced the cup winners in their last match of the season, with first team coach Phil Brumwell named in the starting eleven and the bench comprising of just one name; assistant manager, Stuart Niven.
And Niven didn’t have to wait long to make his season’s debut, replacing the unfortunate Billy Greulich-Smith, who has been plagued by hamstring injuries this season.
In an evenly-contested first half, it was Shildon who made the breakthough on the half hour when Sam Garvie was on hand to tap home a Jamie Owens shot that bewildered visiting goalkeeper, David Knight, when it cannoned off the far post.
The second half was a backs-to-the-wall affair as Spennymoor laid seige to the Shildon goal. And the pressure told when Craig Ruddy was on hand to rifle home a shot from 16 yards.
Spennymoor continued to dominate and Chris Mason thundered a left foot strike against the underside of the bar, but not before Jake Johnson had produced a series of magnificent saves to keep Shildon in the game and earn himself the man-of-the-match award.
Shildon have three away matches remaining and will finish in the top half of the table. Unsurprisingly, their chances of a high placed finish dimished in ratio to the vast number of games they have had to play in the past month.
However manager, Gary Forrest, has already started planning for next season with the signing of experienced defender, Darren Craddock from Newton Aycliffe on a twelve month deal. Craddock, 28, started his career at Hartlepool, and has Conference experience after two seasons at York.Forrest expects the signing to be the first of several new arrivals in the coming weeks.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
