North Shields suffered a heavy 6–1 defeat against Birtley Town on Saturday.
The defeat marks the end of their 6 game winning streak in the league, although they are still within 3 points of the play-off spots.
Shields began the brighter of the two sides and looked dangerous early on, within six minutes, Mason had already forced a strong save after cutting inside and curling an effort towards the bottom corner. The hosts were moving the ball well in the opening stages, and Wanless nearly sent Hall through on goal with a well-weighted pass on the break, only for the move to be intercepted at the last moment.
There were early warning signs at the other end however. A misplaced pass by Elliott in goal allowed Birtley an opportunity, but Bexton recovered well to block the shot.
Shields had a good chance to take the lead when Suddick struck from the edge of the area, but his effort flew over the bar.
The game then turned quickly.
Birtley took the lead through Reece Havelock-Brown midway through the first half, before James Proctor doubled their advantage almost immediately after. During the second goal Elliott did well to deny the initial header, but could do nothing about the rebound, as the Robins suddenly found themselves two goals down in as many minutes.
Shields looked to respond as Wanless hammered the ball over the bar in a move that was flagged offside. Lewis Suddick then fired a dangerous ball across the face of goal on the half hour mark that unfortunately evaded everyone.
As the half went on, Birtley continued to apply pressure, and Shields were forced to dig in. Elliott produced an excellent double save to keep the score down, before Mason cleared off the line from the resulting corner in a desperate spell before the break.
HALF-TIME: North Shields 0-2 Birtley Town
Any hopes of a second-half comeback were quickly dealt a blow.
A defensive slip allowed Proctor to grab his second and Birtley’s third shortly after the restart, putting the visitors firmly in control. To their credit, Shields responded well, with Regan going close almost immediately, his effort dipping narrowly over the bar.
However, Sam Hedley extended their lead again soon after from a corner, heading home to make it four.
With the wind picking up in the second half, the Robins saw a couple of passes forward frustratingly dragged beyond the reach of their targets and into the hands of the away goalkeeper.
Shields nearly produced a moment of quality in the 54th minute when Stephen Hall struck a thunderous effort against the crossbar following a clearance, but it proved to be only a brief bright moment.
Proctor remained clinical and secured his hat-trick for Birtley’s fifth with a simple finish from close range after catching the Shields defence high up the pitch.
Hall continued to look for a way back into the game, attempting to lift the ball over the goalkeeper, before finally playing a key role in Shields’ goal. His header back across goal found Ryan Carr, who finished first time to give the Robins faithful something to cheer about.
There was still time for Birtley to add a sixth in stoppage time, as Matthew Ward curled an excellent effort into the top corner to round off the scoring.
A tough afternoon for Shields, who showed glimpses of promise in the early stages, but were ultimately punished by a clinical Birtley side.
FULL-TIME: North Shields 1–6 Birtley TownSHIELDS XI: Elliott, Suddick, Adams, Cherry (Paterson, 46’), Bexton, Harmison (Anderson, 64’), Holmes (Ogbewe, 64’), Sampson, Hall, Mason © (Carr, 64), Wanless (Lish, 64’)
