North Shields 2 – 2 Whickham: tight affair sees points shared

Scott Robson took his goal tally to 11 for the season as Whickham came away with a point from second placed North Shields in a hotly contested affair.

Whickham got off to the perfect start, when after just two minutes Zak Atkinson played Robson in behind the defence, and he cooly slotted home into the bottom corner to give the Lang Jacks the lead.

They were pinged back just before half time though, a miscommunication in defence allowing Callum Smith to poke home for the home side.

Whickham kept attacking into the second half, and were rewarded when Atkinson and Robson linked up again, the formers’ shot-turned-pass allowing Robson to double his tally for the day by tapping home into the net from close range.

However, North Shields equalised just three minutes from time, another slight mix up at the back meaning Gary Ormston was able to secure a point for the hosts with a close range header.

Whickham will feel very aggrieved that they were robbed of a clear goal scoring opportunity at 1-1, as the referee pulled play back as Robson was through one on one against the North Shields keeper.

Speaking after the game, manager Tony Fawcett said that while he was happy with the overall performance, he felt the lads were poor in the first 10-15 minutes of the game ad challenged them to put that right in their upcoming games.

He also had praise for his front three of Atkinson, Robson and Nathan Greenwood as yet again they linked up well throughout the game. Fawcett was proud of Atkinson for adapting to a new role very quickly over the last few games, and hopes that the trio can keep taking their chemistry on the pitch to new heights.

It’s a quick turnaround for the Lang Jacks, who travel to Penrith on Wednesday evening as they look to climb the table late in the season.

Whickham: Anderson, Howard, Moody, Burrell, Galbraith, Elliott, Bisset, Peareth (C), Robson, Greenwood, Atkinson

Subs: Below (89′), Bannon, Agnew, Jasper (78′), Bewicke