The Colls final friendly of preseason took us to the 1st Cloud Arena, the home of South Shields FC.
A full time team managed by ex-Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips. Playing in the Northern Premier League Premier division and narrowly missed out on on promotion to the National League North last season. South Shields have the quality and set up to be playing at a much higher level than they presently are. After a series of friendlies against lower league opposition where the Colls had dominated, Craig Rouse’s team were in for a tough assignment.
Kick off was delayed by 15 minutes due to Ponte arriving late following congestion travelling North.
Early passages of play saw South Shields dominate possession, giving Ponte plenty of chance to work on defensive shape. Pat Boyes was called into action to make some good saves in the early stages.
South Shields’ sustained pressure eventually broke the deadlock after 17 minutes, with a lovely flowing move finished low by Smith.
Despite the odd Colls break forward, South Shields continued to dominate and maximised the width of the pitch, quickly adding a second and third.
The Colls could have easily folded at this point, but it was far from it. Nice link up play on the right hand side of the box from Allott & Dunn resulted in a cross to Fabian Bailey whose downward header was saved by the well positioned South Shields keeper.
It was 3-0 to South Shields as the teams went in for the half time break.
Second half saw the Colls come out with a desire to break up the South Shields spells of possession and saw a more equal exchange.
Early forward play saw Allott’s appeal for a penalty, after receiving hands in his back, turned down. Vann and Williams both went close with efforts from distance. Vann’s effort curling over, and Williams effort on target blocked by a good defensive block.
Substitute Joe Lumsden was unlucky as his effort was also blocked and diverted behind for a corner.
These Colls attacks weren’t without good breaks and efforts from South Shields, the hosts added a fourth with a quick ball forward that saw Dylan Mottley-Henry grab his second of the game with 15 minutes to go to make it 4-0 the north east side.
Despite going 4-0 down, The Colls resolve seemed to strengthen. Great movement and connection between Allott and Lumsden saw Allott create an opening that Lumsden placed into the bottom corner to grab the Colls a consolation goal that the second half effort deserved.
The game finished 4-1 to South Shields, who deserve to be pushing much higher up the football pyramid than where they presently are.
Despite the result, the Colls showed good heart and battling spirit. A fantastic test and experience that Craig Rouse’s team will be able to draw on in the coming season.
Competitive football for the 2022/23 season starts next Saturday away at Garforth Town in the FA Cup extra preliminary round. See you all there.
UTC.
Match Report written by Nick Wainman.