Match Report
Tuesday 8th April 2025
EBAC Northern League Division One
North Shields 2-1 Crook Town
‘Robins end home campaign victorious’
Blink and before we knew it, our final home game of the 2024/25 was upon us Crook Town were the visitors to the Daren Persson Stadium.
With a number of players unavailable, Brian Smith was given a selection headache prior to kick off, which meant that Nick Cassidy filled in at the heart of the Robins alongside Ben Harmison, hoping that the challenges prior to kick off had subdued, forward Nelson Ogbewe pulled up in the warm up to add even more disruption to the preparation.
Youngster Lewis Burns taking the place of Ogbewe, the game got underway, the first chance of the evening fell to the Robins with five minutes on the clock, Jamie Holmes played in behind only to see his cross cut out.
At the other end, Alex Curran commanded his penalty area well to pluck a cross into the box out of the air, putting an end to a visitors attack.
Danny Anderson let fly from just outside the area, his effort dragged wide of the target.
Twenty minutes played, the visitors with a long ball towards the back post, fortunately for the Robins there was too much on it as the visitors were unable to keep the ball alive.
A neat move from the Robins, Lewis Suddick teeing up Jamie Holmes who let fly first time, his effort narrowly over the top.
Looking to find a breakthrough with the opening goal, a smart corner kick routine saw the ball floated to the back post before being headed back into the middle, where it was met by Ben Harmison, unfortunately his headed effort lacked the direction required.
Flyn Williamson was on hand to provide crucial defensive cover at the other end, ushering the ball out of play to win the Robins a goal kick.
GOAL North Shields 0-1 CROOK TOWN – Ben Trotter ‘45+1
With almost the last kick of the first half, the visitors took the lead, an argument of against the run of play, a neat move from the Black and Ambers, the ball worked to the byline before being pulled back to Trotter in the middle to slot the ball home.
Half Time: North Shields 0-1 Crook Town
A disappointing end to the first half for the Robins, having had the better chances of the half, they found themselves behind at the break, plenty of left for them to turn it around in the second half.
The second half took some time to take off, both teams looking to get a foothold of possession, the first chance of the second half, taking nearly 15 minutes to materialise, the visitors forcing the Robins defense to recover well to stop the attack in its tracks.
The visitors had the ball in the back of the net but the celebrations were shut off before they started as the match official pulled the play back for a foul on Curran in the process.
Another neat move from the Robins, the ball worked to Jamie Holmes on the edge of the area, who unleashed an effort, unfortunately the trajectory was too much as the ball flew harmlessly over the top.
With around 25 minutes left to play, Brian Smith made his first change of the evening as Reece Wanless replaced Lewis Burns following an impressive performance.
Ben Harmison was inches away from connecting with a Lewis Suddick free kick into the penalty area.
Entering into the final quarter of an hour, the second change of the evening for the Robins saw Charlie Lowes replace Danny Anderson.
GOAL NORTH SHIELDS 1-1 Crook Town – Lewis Suddick ‘78
Coming from a visitors goal kick, Ben Harmison sending the ball back where it came from with a powerful header, the ball falling to Will McCamley, who lifted it over the top of the defence into the path Lewis Suddick, who let it bounce once before unleashing a blistering right footed half volley, picking out the bottom corner and drawing the Robins level.
GOAL NORTH SHIELDS 2-1 Crook Town – Will McCamley ‘86
The turnaround complete, Lewis Suddick chested the ball down on half to Reece Wanless, who set Will McCamley on his way, cutting in from the right hand side, McCamley let fly with a left footed effort, aimed at the front post, wrong footing the keeper in the process, a goal worthy of winning any game, taking McCamley’s total to 15 for the season.
One final change for the Robins saw Adam Forster replace Dean Holmes in a bid to lock things up and ensure the win stayed intact with just a couple of minutes of added time left to play out.
Full Time: North Shields 2-1 Crook Town
A superb allround performance from the Robins, a tough one to call for MOTM with Nick Cassidy putting in a stellar performance in defence and Will McCamley capping off another commanding performance with the winning goal but the award was presented to Flyn Williamson for a brilliant performance displaying his defensive qualities.
Up next, we move our attention to Friday night for our penultimate game of the 2024/25 season we make the trip to West Auckland Town with 7.30pm kick off.
North Shields: Curran, D Anderson, Williamson, Downey, Cassidy, Harmison, McCamley, J Holmes, Burns, D Holmes ©, Suddick.
Subs: McCafferty, Wanless, Forster, Lowes.
Goal Scorers:
North Shields: Suddick ‘78, McCamley ‘86
Crook Town: Trotter ’45+1
Attendance: 311
Advanced Garage Doors MOTM: Flyn Williamson
Next Up: West Auckland Town (A) – Friday 11th April – 7.30pm
