Very Disappointing

Shildon AFC will now probably finish 3rd in the league after a very disappointing 1 – 1 away draw at Newton Aycliffe on Bank Holiday Monday 21st April 2014. The Railwaymen were hoping to win their last two fixtures to secure 2nd place, but two points lost means Celtic Nation should finish runners up behind Spennymoor Town. Celtic are 2 points ahead of Shildon, with both teams having one game to play.

Aycliffe took the lead after only 3 minutes when No 11 Kerry Hedley rounded his man and blasted into the roof of the net.

Shildon nearly equalised on 26 minutes when Dareen Richardson struck the crossbar.

On the half hour danger man Kerry Hedley’s effort was tipped over by Shildon keeper Lewis Graham.

Half Time:  Newton Aycliffe  1  Shildon AFC  0

In the 2nd half there were no real chances from either side up until 68 minutes when hero Kerry Hedley became villain when he pushed Ben Wood in the box for a penalty which Ben Wood converted with ease.

Thereafter the game was a non entity, with both teams not able to get one shot on target. Throughout the game only Billy Greulich-Smith put himself about for Shildon making two half chances, the rest of the team were rubbish.

Final Score:  Newton Aycliffe  1  Shildon AFC  1

Goalscorer:  Wood  68

Subs:  Wood for Hudson 29, Turnbull for Harwood 55, Emms for Garvie 65.

Bookings:  Craddock 48.

Man-of-the-Match:  Billy Greulich-Smith

When Shildon play badly the manager normally blames our pitch, but this game was played away. The whole team let the club, supporters and themselves down badly. There was no desire or determination, as they never looked like scoring.