Tom Wardle reports as Marine’s second half comeback denied by late penalty…
Marine’s spirited second half fight back means they remain unbeaten in the Northern Premier League, as they drew 2-2 to South Shields at the Marine Travel Arena. Michael Woods gave Kevin Phillips’ side the lead at the break, but goals from Djavan Pedro and Jake Burton turned the game around, before a late Darius Osei penalty suggested the sides couldn’t be split on the day.
A blustery afternoon anticipated the 1148 supporters in attendance. They had to wait until the 25th minute to see the game’s first meaningful chance. South Shields’ Mackenzie Heaney curled an effort from outside the area onto the post, as the visitors began to control proceedings following a fairly even opening quarter.
Five minutes later, the away side asserted their dominance. Robert Briggs picked out Woods around the edge of the box, who hit it on the turn towards the bottom corner to make it three goals in as many games for the midfielder.
The Mariners struggled to get a foothold in the game in the first 45 and manager Neil Young reacted by sending on Jordan Lussey and Burton at half time.
As a consequence of those changes, the MTA faithful were soon brought to their feet, when Pedro headed home on his first start for the club. Sean Smith’s delivery from the left was met by the youngster, his header striking both posts before being bundled over the line.
Marine’s momentum didn’t stop there. Shortly after a magnificent sliding challenge from Josh Wardle, the ball travelled to the other end of the pitch, where Burton flipped the game on its head. The Tranmere loanee collected the ball and darted at the away team. He cut inside on his left foot and arched the ball into the far corner, almost parallel to his finish at Guiseley last week.
The Whites were so close to adding a third, firstly through Callum Harris, who received the ball from Burton in a promising area but sliced his strike wide. Afterwards Burton again was adding spark into the attack. His pass found Pedro but somehow the ball slid on the wrong side of the post.
Then in the 84th minute, the Tyneside club made their trip to Crosby worthwhile. Woods had a brilliant shot cannon off the bar, leading to a bouncing ball in the box which instigated Charley Doyle to barge over substitute Dylan Mottley-Henry according to referee Barry Lamb. Osei converted the spot-kick; the ball sliding under the unfortunate Bayleigh Passant.
The Mariners have another tough test on the horizon, as they travel to Stafford Rangers on Tuesday night for a 7:45pm kick off.
Marine: Passant, Solomon-Davies, Smith, Howarth, Wardle ©, Weir, C.Doyle, Campbell (Lussey 45), Adams (Burton 45), Harris (A.Doyle 77), Pedro.
Unused Subs: Ferguson, Dunn.
South Shields: Boney, Doherty, Adams, Liddle, Bodenham, Smith, Heaney (Osei 55), Woods, Alessandra (Mottley-Henry 79), Briggs (Hodgson 79), Gomes.
Unused Subs: Hunter, Newton.
Attendance: 1,148
