Match Preview proudly sponsored by Northumbria Print
Date: Tuesday 4th February 2020
Venue: Craik Park, Morpeth Common, Morpeth, Northumberland, NE61 2YX
Kick Off: 3pm
Competition: Northern Premier League Premier Division
Highlights: Highwaymen TV
Morpeth welcome near neighbours South Shields to Craik Park on Tuesday evening in a highly anticipated derby.
History
After two title winning seasons in the Northern Alliance, and an appearance in the quarter-finals of the FA Vase in 1976, Shields joined the Wearside League winning the league at the first attempt in 1977 and completing a league and cup double by winning the Durham Challenge Cup against Consett at Roker Park, the first county cup win for the club since the reformation. The team however was broken up as the club did not have the facilities needed to meet the requirements of joining the Northern League. So the club spent the next 15 years languishing in mid table in the Wearside League while the club searched for a suitable home.
Ultimately, chairman John Rundle and his family provided the long wished-for new ground by purchasing the run down and vandalized facilities next door to the Filtrona factory, the ground was refurbished and ready for use in 1992, the team thanks to the management of Bobby Elwell and the goals of striker Steve Harkus responded by winning a double of the Wearside League for the first time since 1977 and the Sunderland Shipowners Cup.
In 1994–95 the club won the Wearside League for the second time in three years and were promoted to Northern League Division Two. Shields were quickly promoted again to Northern League Division One the following season after finishing runners up, the club enjoyed a 4 year stay in the 1st division.
The club however built on the success of the previous season and won promotion back to Division 1 finishing runners-up to Penrith. Shields then settled down as a solid mid-table Division one side with a big highlight being winning the Northern League Cup in 2010 after beating Ashington 6–5 on penalties after a 2–2 draw at Dunston, the club’s first honour since joining the Northern League.
In the summer of 2015 however, a local businessman by the name of Geoff Thompson bought the original Filtrona Park from John Rundle, moved the club back in, renamed the ground Mariners Park and became the new club chairman.
In the FA Vase final on 21 May 2017, South Shields’s opposition was in the form of the Northern Counties East League champions Cleethorpes Town in which Shields played in front of an estimated 14,000 of their own fans. Shields went on to win 4-0 to lift the FA Vase.
In this time, South Shields also managed to use their games in hand to overturn a 17 point deficit to North Shields at the top of the Northern League to win it with 108 points meaning that when the FA Vase was won, South Shields had completed a ‘quadruple’ of trophies.
Last Match
Town bounced back to winning ways with a deserved victory over Radcliffe on Saturday. Carl Finnigan opened the scoring when he lobbed the ball home. The lead was doubled early in the second half when Liam Henderson fired home. The visitors halved the arrears through Matt Hughes but Jack Foalle sealed the win in added time.
The Mariners drew 2-2 at Stalybridge Celtic on Saturday. Wouter Verstraaten opened the scoring but Darius Osei converted a penalty to level things up. Robert Briggs then scored his own penalty to put Shields back ahead but Osei scored again to ensure the points were shared.
