3rd November 2018 - North Shields (a)

On the Tuesday night , I had been delighted and disappointed at the victory in the League Cup at Shields. Disappointed because I was in Keswick and not Hillheads but delighted at the victory. In apparently what was an exciting game, the lads had pulled out a cracking win and my one hope was that it would be a spring board to the rest of the season. However, after the last great cup victory, against Whitby in the FA Cup, we lost 2-1 to Whickham in the Vase. I was praying that I would not be jinxing them by coming but I could hardly miss it. My recent record has not been good, however and my last victory was two months ago...against Whitby in early September. In the five games I have attended, I have seen 2 draws and 3 defeats. Having said that, the only victories we have had in the last two months have been away (Hebburn 4-1 and Shields 2-0).
However, I  travelled in hope, if not confidence. The Boy Mark and I arrived at the ground in good time and it was clear the crowd was not going to match previous ones. Newcastle may well have been at home but even half an hour before kick off, the ground was empty. This sad sight was spared The Bay Mark as he is not tall enough to be able to see over the fence, thankfully I was able to show him through my phone screen. He wasn't impressed either.

There was only one Shields flag on display (and that was blown over the fence after 20 minutes) and two individuals who managed to last five minutes before the first "We hate Whitley" drifted across the ether.
They obviously were a bit mixed up as they then launched into a version of "Leeds, Leeds,.....Who the ....... are Leeds". Obviously hankering back to the 70s and 80s when Leeds were regular visitors...?
It was good, on the other hand to actually be able to hear the PA for once as the announcer's voice boomed out of four large trumpet-like loudspeakers.

Woaw! Nice Speakers!

This really does put to shame Hillhead's tin can PA!
Also, enjoyable is the hard rock version of "The Red Red Robin, goes bob bob bobbin..." booming out. I would like to say that the Shields players were like the friendly little robin I met in Keswick...

 ...but they weren't.

 They showed no sign of letting Whitley repeat their victory of Tuesday night for me and what they lacked in skill, they more than made up for in determination. Every time a Whitley player had the ball, three or four Shields players would converge. They also knew how to exploit the gaps that appeared in the Bay defence and Bannen had to be on his metal to save bravely at the feet of a speedy Shields forward. Soon after, he almost got a hand to a Shields penalty taken by Callum Johnston but, like the Shields performance, it had too much power for Whitley. The crowd was announced to be 412 but my intensive count revealed there were only 280. Then I was reminded, the other 132 were probably in the clubhouse and toilet. Obvious!
Despite my GoPro running for the whole match, there was not one chance of note for the Bay: Shields' domination was absolute. They doubled their lead in the 55th minute and the Bay were lacking in ideas and fight. Only in the closing stages did Shields tire and Whitley come back into it. Otherwise it was a thoroughly miserable afternoon. Final score: 0-2

The Boy Mark is not happy!

It was a relief to be able to escape at the end of the game. Once again, the sky was the most interesting feature of the afternoon: very dark and broody with the clouds being driven with the same force that our hosts had displayed.

With one league win in six games, we are well and truly in a fight at the wrong end of the table. The lads need to show their metal next week at Guisborough because a repeat of this performance will see us perilously close to the bottom three.
Hopefully the money raised from the 521 who attended the Hillheads Firework display will be put to good use in four new loudspeaker, or maybe a new roof for the PA hut?