Goals from Ryan Carr and Callum Smith weren’t enough as North Shields fell to a 3-2 FA Vase Second Round defeat to Division rivals Hebburn Town.
Louie Storey opened the scoring for Hebburn, directing his headed effort in at the far post, from a deeply swung freekick.
Carr drew Shields level just before the break, rifling an effort from outside the box into the top corner, following Dan Wilson’s lay off.
Michael Richardson caught the Robins cold at the start of the second half, giving the hosts the lead, before Graeme Armstrong added a third midway through the half.
Smith’s late effort looked to spark a comeback, but the visitors were unable to find the equalizer, bringing an end to their impressive FA Vase run.
In wet conditions, it was the Robins who threatened to open the scoring first, with defender Anthony Myers’ freekick finding Wilson in the 15th minute, only for Hebburn ‘keeper Mark Foden to block the attempt.
Shields were punished three minutes later, when Storey got his head onto a deep swinging freekick, with the ball looping over Greg Purvis before finding the back of the net.
Despite the worsening weather, the Robins were still well in the game and in the 25th minute, Carr worked space down the right hand side, before his cross was fired wide by Wilson.
Immediately, the hosts reacted quickly as they broke on the Shields goal, but midfielder Tom Potter could only fire wide himself from inside the area.
With half time fast approaching, the Robins got the leveller that their play deserved, when Carr’s thunderbolt of a strike from 20 yards out, following Wilson’s excellent lay off, left Foden with no chance as the ball found the top corner.
The Hornets almost snatched the lead back two minutes before the break, when Cedwyn Scott, who has sent time on trial with Newcastle United and Carlisle City, saw his effort spectacularly saved down low by Purvis.
A slow start to the second half from Shields cost them dearly, when Foden’s long kick found Richardson, courtesy of a header from Armstrong, who then cut inside his man before firing low into the bottom corner.
Things went from bad to worse for the Robins as in the 56th minute, Armstrong added a third to the score, turning the ball home from close range, following another effort on goal from Scott.
With 30 minutes left in the game, Shields were starting to warm back into the game, with Patton’s close range header directed narrowly over the crossbar.
As the visitors pushed forwards in search of a way back into the game, it left space for Hebburn on the counter attack, with Purvis’ excellent save denying Scott a goal which would have surely put the game beyond the Robins’ reach.
Entering the final ten minutes, the Robins were applying plenty of pressure to the Hebburn defence, and with eight minutes left to go, they managed to pull once back.
Debutant Liam Brooks fed Cam Cunningham the ball on the touchline, before the young winger found Smith unmarked at the far post to tap the ball home from a yard out.
If anyone was going to score, it was going to be the visitors as Hebburn looked to shut the game down. With time running out, Wilson’s diving header went agonizingly close to drawing Shields level, following an Andrew Cartwright freekick.
Marc Nash’s men had a golden opportunity to take the game to penalties with Cartwright lining up a freekick just outside the area. However, the Hebburn wall did its job to deflect the goal bound shot behind for a corner.
Final Score: Hebburn Town 3 North Shields 2
Attendance: 150
Referee: Christopher Ellis
Hebburn Town Starting XI: Mark Foden, Dan Groves, Darren Lough, Danny Carson, Louie Storey, Damen Mullen, Michael McKeown, Tom Potter (Olly Martin 90), Cedwyn Scott (Amar Purewal 80), Michael Richardson (Robbie Spence 60), Graeme Armstrong
Yellow Cards: Michael Richardson 55, Cedwyn Scott 58, Tom Potter 83
Unused Substitutes: Angelos Eleftheriadis, Carl Taylor, Andy Coulson, Jack Donaghy
North Shields Starting XI: Greg Purvis, Andrew Cartwright, Chris McDonald, Gary Ormston, Anthony Myers, Tom Bexton, Adam Forster (c) (Callum Smith 67), David Robinson, Dan Wilson, Ryan Carr (Cam Cunningham 80), Kyle Patton (Liam Brooks 67)
Yellow Cards: Andrew Cartwright 17, Anthony Myers 37
Unused Substitutes: Paul New, Craig Spooner, Nick Cassidy, Callum Elliott
