Report by Jacob Bolam – Media Assistant
The left-back won it for the Robins in the 90th minute after Benfield spent the majority of the game with a one goal advantage.
The game started off with a large spell of Shields possession, which saw shots from Ryan Carr, Andrew Cartwright and Gary Ormston all blocked.
Benfield then opened the scoring in the 27th minute after some sloppy play at the back from Shields led to Paul Brayson lobbing the ball over Olly Marshall.
Neither team took a foothold of the first half, both giving away the ball several times no thanks to the impact of the weather.
Newcastle Benfield went into half-time with a 1-0 lead.
The second half saw an improvement from Shields, with the Robins dominating on the ball as well as McDonald having an effort cleared off the line and Carr having a header pushed onto the crossbar.
Shields finally got their goal after 82 minutes, youngster JJ Chrisp scoring his first goal for the club with a well taken effort into the bottom corner.
Dave Palmer, making his debut for the club, nearly scored on his first appearance after some lovely team play, but his acrobatic effort went just wide of the keepers post.
Then came the dramatic winner on the 91st winner, McDonald rifled one into the top corner after Benfield failed to clear a corner sending the Shields fans into delirium.
Full-Time – North Shields 2-1 Newcastle Benfield
