Tom Clegg’s photos of Shildon’s home pre-season friendly against Scottish Juniors, Tayport FC. The game ended in a 2-2 draw which saw Shildon take the opportunity to blood some of their youngsters from the reserves, none of which looked out of place in the first team jersey. Toms photos can also be viewed on Flickr.
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Tom Clegg’s photos from Shildon’s home friendly against Stranraer are now available to view here and at Flickr. Shildon lost to a late Stranraer goal but held their own for the majority of the game:
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Shildon have secured a late addition to their friendly schedule in the form of Scottish Premier League opposition.
Hamilton Academical FC will be the visitors to Dean Street next Saturday, 26th July in a special Community Friendly.
Instead of the usual entry fee, Shildon are opening the gates and asking the community to ‘pay what you can’ for this game.
A club spokesperson said: “If all you can afford is 50 pence, you will still be able to gain entry to this match against prestigious opposition. We would like as many people in the community as possible to come along to Dean Street and enjoy this match against a side playing at the very top level in Scotland. It is not often games like this come along and we would like as many people in the community as possible to have the opportunity to see this match.”
Hamilton Accies created a sensation in Scotland last season when they famously relegated Hibernian in an end of season playoff, consigning the Edinburgh club to the Scottish Championship alongside their city rivals Hearts.
Having lost the first leg of the match 0-2 at New Douglas Park, Hamilton travelled to Edinburgh and Easter Road with a monumental task ahead of them.
An early goal from Jason Scotland gave the visitors hope, but as the clock ran down, it looked like Hibs would survive. Then, in the last ten seconds of normal time, up popped Anthony Andreu to level the aggregate scores and take the match to extra time.
With no further score in the tie, the match went to penalties and it was Accies who prevailed, winning the shootout 4-3 to record one the most sensational results in modern Scottish football history.
Now Shildon will have the opportunity to play the Premier League new boys in what will be the sternest test of their pre-season schedule. Kick off at Dean Street is scheduled for 1pm and the club hopes that with a pay what you can entry fee, the community will turn out in numbers to support the Railwaymen.
Shildon unveiled their new home kit against Stranraer on Friday night in their third pre-season friendly of the new campaign. It was also their first match of the new season back at Dean Street and although they fell to a single goal two minutes from time, the Railwaymen can be hugely satisfied at matching the Scottish League One side for almost the entire game.
Indeed, the better chances were created by Shildon before the visitors took the lead. Lewis Graham produced an excellent save, stopping a driven shot low to his left side in the early moments of the game before ‘Bobby’ Moore poleaxed a Stranraer defender with a rocket from 25 yards.
After an even first half, Paul Connor could have opened the scoring at the beginning of the second, holding off a number of defenders superbly before skewing his show narrowly wide of the far post from a tight angle.
It was a game of few real chances as both sides cancelled each other out in a competitive midfield battle with the deadlock not being broken until two minutes from time. A well worked move set the Stranraer manager’s brother, Chris Aitken away and he made no mistake, stroking the ball past the onrushing Lewis Graham from the edge of the box.
As Shildon pressed forward in search of a last gasp equaliser, it was instead Lewis Graham who produced another wonder save at the other end as the visitors broke away to prevent an even more unfair scoreline.
Stranraer manager, Stephen Aitken was very complimentary of the Railwaymen’s performance, acknowledging that the side had improved and strengthened since the two met each other during last pre-season.
And certainly the lads can take plenty of confidence from their performances so far in pre-season and will not have had that dented last night, even if a draw would have been a fairer result.
Shildon team: Graham, Richardson, Harwood, Atkin, Craddock, Hudson (Hodgson), Moore, Rundle, Wood, Ruddy, Connor (Garvie).
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