Saturday 4th March 2023
Northern Premier League – East Division
Carlton Town 1 – 2 North Shields
‘Robin’s resilience shines through’. By Sam Cave
Marc Nash and his men made the long trip south to Nottinghamshire to take on the Millers, Connor Oliver filled in at the heart of the defense alongside the returning Simon Jakab.
The game started openly with both teams battling for possession looking to take control of the game.
The first opportunity fell to the Robins and Callum Larmouth as he danced past the Carlton defense only to see his effort find the side netting on the wrong side of the near post.
Aaron O’Connor had the first chance for the hosts but his effort caused no harm to Steavens in between the posts for the Robins.
Shields took control of the game, Cam Cunningham broke forward before being brought down just outside the area. Moments later a dangerous ball whipped into the box evaded the all important touch to send it home.
A controversial moment occurred as Cam Cunningham broke forward again, brought down inside the area by what appeared to be the last man, the match official deemed it to be outside the area and only a caution for the defender in question. Cunningham picked himself up to take the freekick himself, but was unable to find the target.
Aaron Steavens was called into action with a great goal line save to keep the hosts out.
Connorf Oliver tried his luck with a free kick from distance, almost catching out Michael Emery in goal for Carlton only for his effort to narrowly clear the bar.
Simon Jakab was on hand to clear Shields’ lines with a crucial header to keep the hosts at bay.
GOAL 42’ Carlton Town – Dan Freeman, 1-0
A corner for the hosts swung in deep, Freeman unmarked at the back post, headed home beyond Steavens to give the hosts the lead on the stroke of half time.
RED CARD 45’ North Shields – JJ Chrisp
Another contentious decision made the Robins afternoon that little bit harder, Shields on the attack, the ball bouncing around just outside the Carlton penalty area, Chrisp went in for a 50/50 challenge with a Carlton Town defender, the match official deemed that Chrisp kicked his opponent in the chest, when it appeared he had won the ball before colliding with the player, the match official gave Chrisp his marching orders to disbelief of everybody watching.
Half time was upon and with the Robins a goal down and a man down, a hard battle was in store for the second half with the Robins knowing they would have to put in one hell of a shift to turn things around in their favour.
Shields started the second half with the best form of defense, going on the attack looking to get back into the game, Callum Larmouth and Dan Wilson both had chances early on but unable to find the back of the net.
GOAL 55’ North Shields – Dan Wilson, 1-1
Connor Oliver swung a corner into the penalty area, where Dan Wilson jumped highest to head the ball home and draw the Robins deservedly level.
Despite the man disadvantage the Robins took the game to Carlton, who could only stop the flow of attacks with numerous fouls in order to try and disrupt any momentum being built by the Shields attack.
A beautiful flowing move where Wilson, Forsters and Larmouth interlinked well with the latter seeing his volleyed effort deflected for a corner.
Attack turned into defense for the Robins as Carlton hit Shields on the counter attack, David Palmer tracking back was on hand to provide a crucial interception to deflect the ball for a corner.
GOAL 88’ North Shields – Callum Larmouth, 1-2
Another brilliant flowing move this time involving Wilson, Robinson and Larmouth. The ball worked to Larmouth who took a touch to settle himself before smashing the ball beyond Michael Emery.
The match official indicated a minimum of five minutes added time.
With time running out, the hosts went in search of an equalizer, winning a corner they sent everybody up including Michael Emery as they looked to salvage anything from the game, the ball swung and headed goal bound only to hit the crossbar to the relief of the Robins.
At the other, David Robinson had a glorious opportunity to bury the game, when substitute Luke Heppell intercepted a loose pass deep inside the Millers half, he squared the ball to Robinson who fired goal bound only for his effort to be headed off the line.
Time ran out for Carlton as the match official brought the day’s proceedings to a conclusion, seeing Shields add another 3 points to their total seeing them rise to 11th in the table, the result condemned Carlton Town to their 8th consecutive home defeat.
North Shields: Steavens, Forster (Van-Zandvliet ‘81), McDonald, Palmer, Oliver, Jakab, Robinson, Chrisp, Wilson (Potter ‘81), Cunningham (Heppell ‘91), Larmouth.
Subs not used: Hodgson, Paterson
Attendance: 161
Next Up: Dunston (A) – Tuesday 7th March – 7.45pm
