8th April 2015 - North Shields (a)

Joined by Silly Andrew.

In September 1996 I moved to teach in a new school and on the same pitch I paid £6 to stand on today, I had managed my school's football team to a 1-0 victory. Still at the same school 19 years later it was bizarre to be watching the Bay play there. Also bizarre was the fact that the pitch had a fence, stands, bar, changing facilities and the rest. Also bizarre was that this was the home of FA Vase finalists: an amazing achievement considering the progress Shields have made over the last few years. But it was a painful one to see the local rivals doing so well in our season of uncertainty. After a visit to the local social club we arrived to see an even longer queue snaking out of the car park than there had been at Hillheads. What was noticeable was the lack of Whitley scarves around the ground as well as the abundance of shiny new Shields scarves. We did get to meet up with occasional Whitley visitor Silly Andrew...who is silly, amazingly, and called Andrew. He was enjoying a snack obtained from the Shields Club Cafe: a delightful Pot Noodle that would have sent shivers down Tommy's spine: classy stuff but where was the Bovril?!

I'll have.......

Compared to our last confrontation against Shields, there seemed to be more about the Bay and Robbie 'the dad' Bird was looking lively. When Robbie was put through on goal he found himself being pulled all over the place before being dragged down to the ground. No penalty decided our favourite white-haired referee! Worse was to follow as Robbie limped off soon after in a great deal of pain. First Craig Mc out now Robbie...our pacy options were becoming severely limited. 'Chuck' Norris came on for Robbie but found life difficult against the Shields defence.
It was at this point the Shields' Confectionery Trolley trundled past us...an blatant but welcome piece of Shields consumerism! Unfortunately as I finished purchasing my prawn cocktail crisps, Shields took the lead. A scrappy goal by all accounts so I was glad I missed it. Another Bay penalty appeal went by the way of the Silver-haired one (as if he'd give us one) then as I made some notes on the match Shields were 2-0 up. Another goal missed: apparently this one was a defensive slip leaving Shields goal-machine Bainbridge the job of scoring a well-taken second.

We deserved better! This end of the ground was not so full.

In the first half, Whitley had passed the ball about confidently but failed to make much of an inroad into the Shields penalty area and Shields had scored twice with little more than two shots.
As the Bay struggled to make inroads into the Shields penalty area, our entertainment was provided by listening to a couple of Shields fans chatting about such wide-ranging topics such as their involvement in the "Battle of Morrisons" - I was trying to make it look like I was going in to break it up...." Really? The other thing they were chatting about was that someone was standing in front of all the Shields flags that they had lovingly put on the fences behind the grass verge (Curva Nord - apparently) where all the Shields Ultras were gathered. They finished off their "putting the world to rights" session by discussing whether the St George's cross really was a real symbol of the BNP. Things had got that bad!
Deciding to head off to the loo before the half time rush, I glanced over my shoulder as Bainbridge laced an incredible shot into the Whitley net for his hat-trick. I was in denial...I had technically seen no goals so the score was still 0-0. I was happy...?

A brilliant sunset....about the only thing of interest tonight for Whitley Fans!

Even the brilliant sunset faded as the teams re-emerged and Whitley found themselves under the cosh but this time kept the Shields team out. In fact as the half wore on, the home fans seemed to have lost the ability to even applaud their team: the ground was silent. Sing in the library? With their team off to Wembley and still in with a great chance of winning the league, you would have expected more. Long before the end the fans were heading home. Instead of the barrage of noise from the Shields fans we had experienced at Hillheads, the atmosphere had definitely become a damp squib. The game ended 3-0 despite Whitley earning a hatful of corners. Without much quality coming into the box, Shields were able to comfortably see out the final few minutes.
The attendance recorded for the match, although big was nowhere near the 1453 reported but one thing was certain - the public had certainly relished seeing the two teams back together in the same league: billed as El Coastico by the Shields website it hadn't been a happy experience for the Bay fans. Still, there's always another day.... hopefully!