Newcastle Benfield 0 North Shields 2: Double delight as Robins return to winning ways

The Robins returned to winning ways as goals from Adam Forster and Kyle Patton helped them secure a 2-0 away win over Newcastle Benfield.

Benfield almost took the lead early on, when Paul Brayson’s curled effort struck the crossbar.

But the Robins entered the break in front, following Forster’s spectacular volley from the edge of the box.

The hosts piled the pressure on in the second half in search of an equalising goal.

However, Patton’s late penalty, after he was brought down by the keeper, sealed all three points and the league double over Benfield.

The hosts were looking to start brightly and after only a couple of minutes, Cyril Giraud saw his effort, from the edge of the box, cleared off the line by Chris McDonald.

After last weekend’s defeat to Sunderland RCA, Shields were keen to bounce back quickly. In the sixth minute, a deep cross from Patton was collected at the far post by Benfield keeper Andrew Grainger; with Scott McCarthy lurking.

Windy conditions were making it difficult for both sides to control the ball, with McDonald’s long-range shot, in the 11th minute, swerving wide of the Benfield goal.

Only one minute later, Benfield had a golden chance to take the lead, when the wind caused confusion in the Shields defence.

Having collected the ball just outside the centre circle, Giraud played a smart ball through to Brayson, with the attacker cutting inside of his man on the edge of the box, before curling his effort against the top of the crossbar.

With the hosts still wondering how they hadn’t taken the lead, Shields broke up the other end, only for Patton’s shot, from a low McCarthy cross, causing Grainger no concern.

In what was turning into a very end-to-end game, Benfield were the next to threaten in the 15th minute, when Giraud’s low cross was curled wide from close range by former robin Jack Cooper.

However, shortly afterwards, the Robins made the Lions regret their missed opportunities when, in the 17th minute, Forster collected a Callum Smith pass before smashing his volley into the top corner of the net.

Four minutes later and Shields could have easily had a second when Ryan Carr’s towering header, from a Nick Cassidy cross, was excellently tipped over the crossbar by Grainger.

The Robins were really piling the pressure on the Benfield back line, with both Smith and Patton having efforts flying wide of the target.

In the 37th minute, the visitors missed a golden opportunity to double their lead when McCarthy’s low cross was tipped away by Grainger. After collecting the rebound and rounding the keeper, Smith could only fire wide.

With time running out in the first half, it seemed that the only team likely to add to the score were the Robins.

One minute after Smith’s miss, McCarthy outskilled his marker before firing the ball across the goalmouth, narrowly missing a sliding Carr at the far post.

The weather worsened at the start of the second period as both teams looked to make as quick a start as possible.

Just as in the first half, Benfield got onto the front foot quickly and in the 50th minute, a deep swinging cross was deflected away at the far post by Paul New, before Lewis Scorgie could tap home.

Only seconds after that, Greg Purvis pulled off a great reaction save to deny Giraud’s long range effort.

The Lions were pushing hard and from the resulting corner, Mechack Kanda rose highest to connect with the ball, only for his effort to be directed the wrong side of the post.

Having narrowly missed a golden opportunity in the first half, Brayson was gifted another chance in the 53rd minute when the Robins turned the ball over in defence. Somehow, with only Purvis to beat, Brayson’s effort sliced horribly wide when it would have been easier to hit the target.

Both teams were struggling to create many chances of note as the game entered the final 10 minutes.

It was Benfield though who came closest to levelling the game up when a Giraud corner in the 85th minute needed to be punched away by Purvis; with the ball eventually being cleared by a defender.

But only three minutes later, Shields were gifted a chance to put the game to ben when they were awarded a penalty, when Patton was brought down inside the box by Grainger.

Patton stepped up himself to take the spotkick, sending the keeper the wrong way to double the Robins’ lead with only minutes remaining in the game.

The hosts almost notched a consolation goal deep into added time, but Cooper’s thunderous effort from inside the penalty area flew inches over the crossbar.

This results lifts North Shields into fourth place in the Ebac Northern League Division One table, whilst Newcastle Benfield sit in 12th.

Newcastle Benfield Starting Eleven: Andrew Grainger, Matthew Parker (Daniel O’Reilly 80), James Novak, Mark Turnbull (c), Lewis Scorgie, Bradley Varga (Aiden Haley 69), Joe Robson, Mechack Kanda, Paul Brayson, Jack Cooper, Cyril Giraud

Unused Substitutes: Ben Richardson, Guilherme Baltazar, Peter Glen-Ravenhill

North Shields Starting Eleven: Greg Purvis, Nick Cassidy, Chris McDonald, Gary Ormston, Paul New, Wayne Buchanan, Callum Smith (Paul Robinson 70), Adam Forster (c) (David Hall 90), Scott McCarthy (Connor Campbell 51), Ryan Carr, Kyle Patton

Unused Substitutes: Ben Christensen, Rhys Williams