Ten-man Shildon held on for a memorable 2-1 win away from home at Northern League leaders, North Shields on Saturday to progress to the last 32 in the FA Vase, where they will face Atherton Collieries at Dean Street on January 7th.
Shildon were in control of the game, leading 2-0 after goals from Michael Rae in the 8th minute and Amar Purewal in the 63rd, when goalkeeper, Nick Liversedge was shown a straight red for lashing out at Shields forward Dean Holmes with 20 minutes remaining.
Shields then pulled a goal back with 15 minutes to go through substitute, Denver Morris and Shildon had to survive an onslaught for the final moments.
The home side thought they had snatched a replay with five minutes remaining when Ryan Carr headed home, only for the celebrations to be cut short by the offside flag.
The Railwaymen held out for the win and were rewarded with a home draw against Atherton Collieries of the North West Counties Premier League for a place in the final 16.
On Tuesday, 6th December, the side travelled to Consett for a Northern League tie with a chance of catching up three points on the sides above them in the title race.
The Railwaymen started brightly in dull, wet and foggy conditions and took the lead in 17 minutes through a well crafted goal. Lewis Wing’s threaded pass was crossed first time by Anth Bell for Billy Greulich-Smith to slam home.
A second, carbon copy goal quickly followed, with Shildon playing some sublime football on the artificial surface.
The game already looked over, but Consett came out in the second period with a determination to at least win the half while Shildon sat back, content to allow the home side to take pot shots from distance.
With 77 minutes on the clock, Shildon conceded an unnecessary free kick just outside the box and Consett’s captain, Danny Craggs stepped up to curl an unstoppable shot into the top corner.
Suddenly, as Consett’s players rushed to retrieve the ball, the sense around the ground was that the goal may be a turning point. And so it proved.
With five minutes remaining, Consett pushed forward and Shildon’s Matty Robson inexplicably barged the Consett forward to the ground inside the box for a clear penalty which Craggs again converted for the equaliser.
Shildon, having thrown away a comfortable lead, pressed forward in an effort to regain all three points, but instead were hit by a sucker punch.
From a Shildon corner, Consett won the ball and raced upfield where Jordan Nellis was on hand to complete a stunning comeback win.
Shildon & District's local community newspaper.
