On an emotional evening, North Shields ended the season in style as they blew away Newcastle Blue Star to become Brooke Mileson League Cup champions for the first time in over half a century.
Adam Doyle and Nelson Ogbewe kicked off the scoring inside 15 minutes, before Jordan Lashley finished off the scoring early in the second half to secure a famous cup win for the Robins.
Shields smelled blood from the first whistle and played an aggressive brand of football. Suddick had an effort denied before Doyle had a rebound saved also.
Doyle, who was a constant threat down the flank, scored a tremendous opener as he rounded the goalkeeper and slotted away to send hundreds of Shields fans into raptures.
Blue Star did all they could to keep Shields on their toes. Cal Elliot made some crucial stops, just as he has so many times this season. A notable example was in the 20th minute, when he stopped a powerful Daniel Lanning free kick, and then got down again to prevent captain Sam Reid from scoring the rebound from inches out.
To add further value to the save, Ogbewe bagged Shields’ second and his 12th of the season on the subsequent counter attack, Lashley spotted the forward in space and played him through, allowing him to take his time and place it past a helpless Dan Lister.
HALF-TIME: North Shields 2-0 Newcastle Blue Star
6 minutes in the second half was all it took for the Robins to secure their place as league cup champions. Doyle made another ferocious sprint down the right and whipped a cross towards Lashley at the far post who smacked a volley into the back of the net to make it 3-0.
Doyle had a convincing looking penalty shout around 10 minutes later, but the referee brandished a yellow card for simulation instead.
It was then Lister’s turn to make a crucial save to deny Lashley when through on goal in the 66th minute.
As the half ticked on, Blue Star looked to be out of ideas up top as both their aggression and possession dwindled. The number of their fans in the ground slowly depleted towards the end of the game, and there was a growing feeling in the air that the game was already won.
And then the final whistle came.
Emotions from the stands overflowed as a pitch invasion ensued and players embraced. Supporters bellowed out chants of “One Curtis Coppen” and “NE29” to name but two. The wait for another League Cup had ended, and rarely had a town felt so united as during the immediate celebrations.
After a brief speech from a representative of the league, Ryan Carr lifted the cup and was mobbed by a sea of both players and fans.
FULL-TIME: North Shields 3-0 Newcastle Blue Star
SHIELDS XI: Elliott, Suddick, Wanless, (Lish, 83’) Ross, Anderson (Hall, 75’) , Harmison, Doyle, Sampson (C), Ogbewe (Waldon, 62’), Carr (Holmes, 62’) Lashley (Paterson, 77’)
