Seadogs Tipped Over The Sedge.... !!

And so to the Clayborn Ground on Quaker Lane in Cleckheaton, on the border with Hightown in Liversedge - this afternoon an FA Trophy Third Round Qualifying clash between Liversedge FC and Scarborough Athletic.

Liversedge Football Club was founded in 1910 following the demise of the old Liversedge Rugby Club, starting in the Bradford League for three seasons and winning it in 1920/21. The Sedge was a founder member of the West Riding County Amateur League in 1922/23 and went on to be the most successful club in the league’s infancy, taking the league title three times in its first five seasons (1924, 1926 and 1927) and, later, again in 1965 and 1966.

The club was accepted into the Yorkshire League for 1972/73, and promotion to Yorkshire League Division One was achieved prior to the amalgamation of the Midland and Yorkshire Leagues to form the Northern Counties East League in 1982. 

 

Second in 2005/06 and League Cup winners, but promotion to the Northern Premier League was denied due to insufficient facilities - apparently no separate changing rooms for female referees !! Never relegated, Quaker Lane was flooded in October 2015 resulting in no home games for 4 months.

 

Following the last two seasons being curtailed dramatically by the coronavirus pandemic, Liversedge FC was promoted to the Northern Premier League Division One East due to finishing both the 2019/2020 and 2020/21 seasons in the top three of the table (based on a table using a Points Per Games calculation). They currently sit top with 11 wins and a draw from 12 league fixtures.

Scarborough Athletic FC was set up on 25 June 2007 by the Seadog Trust. This was five days after the liquidation of Scarborough FC - £2.5 million in debt and unable to sell the McCain Stadium to a housing developer due to a covenant restricting it to sporting activities (it is now a Lidl supermarket....)

The Seadogs joined the Northern Counties East League Division One, groundsharing at Bridlington Town's Queensgate stadium. Two seasons in they were crowned as champions and promoted to the Premier Division, with Brian France as manager. In their second season in the top flight France was struck in the face by a ball at, strangely, Liversedge and suffered a brain haemorrhage - he never managed the club again.

 

In 2012/13 'Boro clinched the NCEL title and were promoted to the Northern Premier Division One South (bizarrely !!) under their magnificently named Romanian manager Rudy Funk. The Seadogs were moved laterally to Division One North after one season.

 

In July 2017 the club, after ten years at Bridlington, finally returned to the town at the new Flamingo Land Stadium at Weaponness. After play off defeat in 2017 the Seadogs were promoted to the Premier Division as runners up the following year but, despite attendances having nearly trebled, have flattered to deceive ever since - this season six wins, three draws and six defeats.

 

As an extension of their youth team a nursery club Scarborough Town was established in 2008, initially competing in the Teesside League. The team moved up to the Wearside League and were champions in 2010 before folding in June 2013.

 

The original Scarborough FC was founded in 1879, moving to the Athletic Ground on Seamer Road in 1898 and staying there until dissolution. From the Midland League Scarborough became a founder member of the Northern Premier League in 1968, crowned as FA Trophy winners three times in 1973, 1976 and 1977 (beating Wigan Athletic, Stafford Rangers and Dagenham respectively) and runners up in 1975.

 

The Seadogs joined the Alliance Premier League on inception and were champions in 1987, becoming the first ever automatically promoted club to the Football League. 8 May 1999 saw the club relegated back to the Conference after goalkeeper Jimmy Glass scored for Carlisle deep into injury time to preserve their league status, and rendering the Seadogs' 1-1 home draw with Peterborough, already celebrated as survival, irrelevant. Thereafter in 2006 Scarborough were demoted due to 'financial instability'. The end was nigh....

After brinner, it's past Seven Heaven Kitchen, with numberplates today featuring B16 HOT, A B10WER and BR04DEN. Washway Road takes me to the M60 beyond the Bodhi Tree Buddhas at Utopia, Thai Massage at Po Thong and a Chinese takeaway at Panda Mama. Not forgetting the haunted Eyebrow Cottage....

 

Beyond Beyond (aka Chill Factore) on the M60 then the M62 and Saddleworth Moor, Scammonden and the M62 Summit - the highest motorway point in England. More lorry trailer advertising hoardings, predominantly Radiator Outlet but, yes, another CBD one. The weather changes from sunny spells to heavy rain, the thermometer ticks down from 14C to 9C and the motorway is closed on the opposite carriageway at Junction 23 due to a severe multivehicle accident.

 

Past Outlane Cricket Club next to the hard shoulder and off at J25 Hartshead Moor where the motorway closure has caused local gridlock so a hastily revised route is improvised.  Coal Pit Lane, then left at the Gray Ox to Windy Bank Lane onto the A649 and left at Casa Luli into Hightown Road. The ground is well hidden at the foot of Quaker Lane on the right, an inadequate unadopted alley with one car's width.

 

The return journey takes me back via Cleckheaton, past the local Wetherspoons - The Obediah Brooke, a 19th century local farmer - to rejoin at J26. Needless to say the car park is insufficient for a bumper crowd of 571 so I park on the adjoining housing estate, and it's £6 on the gate.

 

Clayborn features a clubhouse to the top West corner of the ground with a drinks terrace, covered seating at the North (The Stuart Silverwood Stand) and another bar - The Huntsman - and a small covered terracing stand to the West behind the goal - The Cowshed. The historic slope has now long since gone, but the North and West sides are elevated above the pitch, with the ground framed by new detached houses, trees and, to the South, a picturesque view of fields looking onto the outskirts of Mirfield.

Sedge are in white and blue stripes, Seadogs in red with white trim and it's a quiet start. That is until the 11th minute when the rhythm is fractured as a home free kick is only half cleared and Jack Stockdill shoots from the edge of the box; his shot hits the post and rolls in, and Liversedge lead 1-0.

For a brief period Sedge are dominant, incisive and threatening with Athletic spoiling the home attack with a series of fouls. However the Seadogs start to take advantage of Sedge's open defending, and on 20 minutes Nathan Cartman breaks through resulting in Michael Coulson's shot being cleared off the line.

Brilliant sunshine gives way to a brief flurry of drizzle and a rainbow as Scarborough start to dominate. Luca Colville's fizzer is going in but Kieran Weledji adds a final touch into the net and is deemed offside, and then home stopper Jon Stewart comes up with two super saves from Coulson and Ryan Watson, one with his hands and the other with his feet.

At the other end Nicky Walker cuts in from the right and strikes the near post, before teeing up Stockdill whose effort is blocked. A breathless first half ends with Sedge a goal to the good.

Five minutes after the break a challenge in the Liversedge box sees Coulson, not for the first time, tumble to the turf (with an alacrity suggesting 'a weed and feed addiction') and he is booked for simulation. Three minutes on and a Sedge cross sees capless, hapless Seadogs' keeper Michael Ingham blinded by the sun and in the ensuing shenanigans an attempted defensive clearance is struck straight at Paul Walker and into the net.

Paul Walker should have made it 3-0 shortly after but his air shot produces a defensive deflection that casually loops just wide. At the other end Stewart performs more heroics in keeping out efforts from Colville and Bradley Plant.

End to end now with Liversedge sitting off and soaking up Seadogs' pressure - the home side fashion a chance for Ben Atkinson, who creates space and shoots across Ingham but just beyond the far post. However their next opportunity on 74 minutes sees Joe Walton bully his opponent off the ball and in a two on one he squares for Atkinson, who composes himself and then fires into the corner for 3-0.

Then the piece de resistance: with 9 minutes to play the ball finds Nicky Walker's feet, he bamboozles the full back and shoots left footed from outside the box and the ball hits the inside of the opposite post before going in. Not so much a peach as a full tropical fruit salad....

Aside from a wholly unnecessary melee at the death that's it - a 4-0 'giantkilling' with the man of the match being the underdogs' goalkeeper. The 100+ disgruntled Scarborough fans, 'you're all just walking' are met with home cries of 'See you next season'... and on this showing that's highly likely !

 

Pitmen Undermine Coalville - A Murder of Ravens !!

 Hednesford Town WLWDWL 3rd v Coalville Town DWWLWL 4th

And so to the PRG Stadium, otherwise known as Keys Park, and the FA Trophy 3rd Qualifying Round for an all Southern League Premier Central clash between Hednesford Town FC and Coalville Town FC.

Hednesford Town FC was established in 1880 as a merger of the Red & Whites (who were also known as West Hill) and Hill Top. Based at the Anglesey Hotel, they were sometimes known as Hednesford Anglesey. The club was a founder member of the Birmingham & District League in 1889 but left the league in 1891 and played only friendly matches before joining the Walsall & District Junior League in 1894.

In 1908 the Pitmen joined the Birmingham Combination, which they won in 1909–10. After World War I the club rejoined the Birmingham & District League, before withdrawing from the league during the 1937–38 season and folding. The newly reformed club reverted to the Birmingham & District League for the 1938–39 season.

After World War II Hednesford rejoined the Birmingham Combination. They won the league in 1950–51 and then returned to the Birmingham & District League, which became the West Midlands (Regional) League. In 1972 they joined the Midland League and in 1984 after finishing as runners-up, the club moved up to the Midland Division of the Southern League.

Promotion in the 1991/92 season to the Premier Division and reaching the final of the Welsh Cup (!), losing 1–0 to Cardiff City, followed. They won the Beazer Homes Premier Division in 1994/95, achieving promotion to the GM Vauxhall Football Conference at their new Keys Park home, finishing third in their first season. Notable FA Cup giantkillings of Blackpool, York City, Hull City and Barnet prefaced relegation in 2001 and then FA Trophy success in 2004, winning the competition with a 3–2 victory over Canvey Island at Villa Park. The following season play off success saw a return to the Conference North.

Hednesford finished bottom of the Conference North in 2006, resulting in an immediate relegation to the Premier Division of the Northern Premier League. Flitting between lateral transfers to and from Northern and Southern Premier Leagues and failed play off campaigns, the Pitmen finally won promotion back to the Conference North in 2013 but were again relegated in 2016 to the Northern Premier League, finishing 13th of 21 last season and then moving last summer back to the Southern League as part of the pyramid restructure.

The visitors, Coalville Town FC, are from the Mander Cruickshank Solicitors Stadium, aka the Owen Street Sports Ground, and were established as Ravenstone Miners Athletic in 1926. The Ravens were originally based in the village of Ravenstone, joining the Coalville & District League and undertaking a record journey of name changes. The club was renamed Ravenstone Swifts in 1947 and then back to Ravenstone Miners Athletic in 1951. They won the Division One title five times before, in 1958, the club was renamed Ravenstone FC. The Ravens then joined the Premier Division of the North Leicestershire League in 1974 going on to win the Premier Division in 1988–89 and 1989–90, and moved up to Division One of the Leicestershire Senior League in 1991.

In 1995 the club moved to nearby Coalville after being unable to upgrade their Ravenslea ground, and was renamed Coalville Football Club. In 1996–97 they finished second in Division One and were promoted to the Premier Division. The club adopted their current name in 1998 and, after winning the Premier Division in 2001–02 and 2002–03, were promoted to the Midland Alliance.  They were league runners-up in 2009–10, and the following season saw them reach the final of the FA Vase, losing 3–2 to Whitley Bay at Wembley, but that disappointment was tempered by winning the Midland Alliance, scoring 153 goals in the process and earning promotion to Division One South of the Northern Premier League.

After two unsuccessful play off campaigns, they defeated the now defunct Shaw Lane Aquaforce 3-1 in the final in 2016 to earn promotion, moving laterally in 2018 to the Premier Division of the Southern League Central, and finishing 6th last time around.

So past Altrincham Library and the Eudaemonium ,'The Living Book', aka Council Vanity Project, then Papa Chino and Barberian, Moonchild Tattoo and Holly's Folly to the M6. Not long before the first registration C T0 5OOT (chimney sweep - brilliant ☺), then a van shouting 'Live Life On The Veg' (greengrocer in case you need to ask !!) and 111 OAP (surely all pensioners get ill at some point !) and 3KED (out ?)....

En route, queues for 'Christmas at Dunham Massey' and its excellent light trail, then Smart Motorway, distracting bridge signs before hitting the A5, Watling Street, then the A460 and Cannock Chase before turning off on Hemlock Way. Keys Park is just beyond the Cross Keys roundabout, opposite a business park and adjacent to the new Cherry Blossom housing development, on Keys Park Road.

I refuse to pay the £2 car park fee (tightwad !!), stopping in another new estate five minutes away (I'm not alone !!), and then it's £11 in to a modernised PRG Stadium built for better things and times... The Main Stand houses the Chase Suite and Strikers Bar, and 710 seats; opposite is the covered Wimblebury Terrace. To my right is the covered Heath Hayes End terrace, with the opposing Hednesford End hosting 301 seats alongside a disabled dugout and the club shop. With an overall capacity of 6,039 today's attendance of 354 plus one dog reveals the true extent of the stadium with huge spaces on the terraces reflecting the sparsity of the crowd - most of whom are huddled in the Main Stand.

A sign as the players enter the field announces 'Grass grows in inches. Feet kill it. Please keep off the pitch.' Hednesford are in white and black, Coalville in change all yellow - the sides are led out by mascot Pitman Pete.

Coalville start the much better, hungrier (more Ravenous ?? !) with Kalern Thomas having a shot pushed away by Andy Wycherley who is injured in the process. Shortly after a one two between Luke Shaw and Tom McGlinchey sets Shaw free but he chooses, greedily, to shoot wide, instead of squaring to Grenadan international Kairo Mitchell who has an open goal to aim at.

Thereafter Mitchell has a shot bravely saved, full on, by Wycherley and McGlinchey fizzes one just over the bar. For the hosts Andre Brown brings a good save from Ravens' keeper Saul Deeney but it's the Ravens who are flying....

Then, a minute before half time, a break from the Pitmen, Brown is fouled, the referee plays a good advantage as he manages to lay off to Danny Glover, whose perfect cross to the far post is headed back across Deeney by unmarked Jack Hallahan into the opposite corner; Hednesford lead 1-0 at the interval.

In the swirling mist and teeming rain, the goal buoys the Pitmen and in truth Coalville hardly get going in the second period so after Deeney saves well from Brown it's no surprise that the home side extend their advantage. On the hour a free kick is played to Ben O'Hanlon and his deep cross is met by home skipper Ben Bailey whose header is again directed back across Deeney, nudging the inside of the far post before nestling in the net for 2-0.

The Pitmen then manage the game well, retaining possession and stymieing the Ravens' now impotent attack. Brown has an overhead kick wide as the game draws to its conclusion.

But then Coalville substitute Tim Berridge scores with three minutes to play, tucking smartly into the bottom right hand corner and, as the small enclave of away supporters (A murder of ravens? An unkindness of ravens? A congress of ravens? Or simply a horde of ravens? You take your pick !! ) begin to believe, it's game on.

A succession of corners, Wycherley flapping at one which is diverted just beyond the post, and then the Ravens' final chance: Berridge's fierce strike is deflected over by a magnificent block by Bailey and Hednesford go through to a first round home tie with Chester.

Lambs Do The Slaughter - Blues Murdered !!

 Tamworth 2nd DWLWLW v Leiston 22nd LLLDWW

So to the FA Trophy and the CR MOT Centre Community Stadium at The Lamb for an all Southern Premier Central clash between Tamworth and Leiston.

The town of Tamworth had been represented at football by Tamworth Castle F.C. until the club folded in 1933. This void was filled following a campaign started by a local businessman in the local newspaper setting in motion the formation of Tamworth FC. The club moved to its current ground, The Lamb, in 1934, starting in the Birmingham Combination before joining the West Midlands League in the 1950s - winning the league in 1963–64 and 1965–66.

1972 saw The Lambs promoted to the Southern League, but a period of falling attendances and financial difficulties followed. The club returned to the West Midlands League, and was taken over by a consortium of local businessmen in 1984. In 1987–88 Tamworth won the League and were promoted back to the Southern League.

Tamworth won the FA Vase in 1989, beating Sudbury Town 3-0 in a replay at London Road, Peterborough after a 1-1 draw at Wembley. Further success followed with the Southern League title in 2002, promotion to the Football Conference the following year but defeat 2-1 by Burscough in the FA Trophy final.

The club completed their highest profile signing of all time on 23 February 2006 of Paul Merson until the end of the season, but the arrangement lasted only two games and Merson retired on 9 March 2006. The Lambs finished in 21st position but relegation was avoided due to Canvey Island's resignation; it only deferred the inevitable and the club dropped to the Conference North at the end of the following season.

Two years later Tamworth secured the Conference North title and promotion back to the Conference Premier. An FA Cup giantkilling of Crewe Alexandra in 2010 was another highlight, but after five seasons in the top tier the Lambs fell into the Conference North in 2014. The club was then further relegated in 2018 to the newly formed Southern League Premier Central where they finished 12th last term.

Leiston FC was established in 1880 and was initially closely linked to the nearby Richard Garrett Engineering Works. In its early years the club was a member of the North Suffolk League and the Ipswich and District League.

 After reforming as Leiston Works Athletic at the end of World War One the club moved to Victory Road. Further periods were spent in both leagues plus the East Anglian League and Essex & Suffolk Border League, before they became something of a yo-yo club in the Ipswich League in the 1990s.

The Blues stepped up to Division One of the Eastern Counties League for the 2000/01 season, and won the Ridgeons Eastern Counties League Premier Division in 2011, earning promotion to Division One North of the Isthmian League. The following season they won Division One North, achieving back-to-back promotions and moving up to the Isthmian League Premier Division. Leiston FC was then laterally transferred to the Premier Central Division of the Southern League at the end of the 2017/18 season as part of the restructuring of the non-League pyramid, and finished 19th out of 22 last time. The Blues currently prop up the table this season after starting with two points from a possible 36, but then securing back to back victories.

So on a dank morning with heavy rain and a temperature of 6C it's past a van advertising Slime & Grime to the M6. A horrendous journey takes in a mudslide with two lanes closed just beyond Sandbach services, an accident, breakdown, Smart Motorway speed restrictions and bedraggled, distracting bridge signs and a dog running loose.

Ignoring billboards shouting 'Are You Pregnant ?' (Newbie and Me)  and taking in today's numberplates of L111STN, LO55 GUY (?) and V111ANY I eventually turn off at junction 12 for Watling Street, aka the A5. Then it's signs for Hednesford Hills Raceway, the Silly Sausage Café in Cannock, Norton Canes, Hammerwich and Brownhills Quarry.

I bypass Shenstone, and its wonderfully named football club Shenstone Pathfinder, and the submerged fields all around - the rain having caused severe travel problems and many postponements. Then it's off at Ventura Retail Park and thanks to the helpful signs for Tamworth FC I arrive at a flooded roundabout, below the viaduct for the West Coast Main Line, at Kettlebrook Road and The Lamb with ten minutes to spare. The trip has taken just over three hours...

The Lamb is named after a long gone pub, The Lamb Inn, and has a huge car park - but at £12 a ticket, and £2 extra to sit in the stand, I forego the £2 parking charge and leave the car in an adjacent side street.

Inside the near end has a raised covered terrace, with seven separate alcoves, and to the right is the tidy all seater main stand, straddling the halfway line. On the left is The Shed, a four step covered terrace, housing 'The Shed Choir' which is slightly muted today given the weather and a below par crowd of 385. Alongside this is the clubhouse, slightly set back, and snack bar. The far Castle End is open terracing and another catering outlet in the corner, with trees beyond; the grandstand is overlooked by the Snow Dome and the other two sides by residential housing.

The Lambs are in red with white and black trim, and the Blues, surprisingly (!) in all blue with a dash of white, with Tamworth attacking the Meadow Street end as the rain continues to pour down. Thankfully the pitch is 3G astroturf, otherwise the tie would surely have been called off.

It's a cagey start but Tyrell Waite, for the home side, has two early shots, one easily saved and the other deflected. Just as the Choir are getting restless on the half hour Waite plays in Rhys Hoenes, who dummies Blues' keeper Charlie Beckwith and scores with ease.

Hoenes has a spooned effort over the top but, with five minutes to the break, Waite surges forward, also dummies Beckwith and scuffs his shot. Covering defender Harry Knights manages to fall over and both he and the ball end up, farcically, in the net; 2-0 to Tamworth at the interval.

Into the second period and Waite and Hoenes waste glorious chances, so it's the 62nd minute before the Lambs make it 3-0 with Dan Creaney heading in Jordan Clement's corner. Waite then hits the bar and Hoenes hits a one on one straight at Beckwith.

For the visitors Mason Sinclair registers their first effort, directly at Tamworth glovesman Jas Singh in the 79th minute, prompting the middle enclave of 8 Blues supporters to start singing ' We only sing when we're ploughing'. Curiously a 9th supporter is stood on his own, in the rain and looking thoroughly disconsolate.

Hoenes hits the post a minute after, whilst sub Ben Stannard fires a free kick low under the wall for the Blues straight at Singh. Bilal Yafai's curling effort then draws a flying save out of Beckwith.

In the final minute substitute Dilano Reid's cross is met with a gorgeous volley from Creaney to ice the cake at 4-0 and the referee decides that's enough - 4-0 at the death, a dominant Lambs performance and a quarter to five finish (remember those days ??!! )  .....

McDonald Is Rangers' Massiah - Mariners Sunk

And so to the FA Trophy Second Round Qualifying and a visit to Marston Road for the tie between Stafford Rangers and South Shields.

No one is able to prove conclusively when Rangers (Boro is their other nickname strangely) were actually formed, as early minute books were destroyed in the First World War. The club's formation year is recognised as 1876 because of an enquiry to the local Staffordshire Advertiser. The reply, published the following week, suggested the club was already up and running.

Initially playing friendlies and FA Cup ties, Rangers flitted between the Shropshire, Birmingham and North Staffordshire Leagues, moving to Marston Road in 1896 and winning the Birmingham Combination in 1913. The first 'Golden Era' came in the late 1920s, producing a Birmingham League title, twice runners up and two third place finishes.

The good times came to an abrupt end as the 1930s proved to be a constant battle for survival on and off the pitch. A shortage of players forced secretary RP Brown to play in one match - scoring the goal that earned Rangers their first away point of the season. Only a successful appeal for £100 to pay creditors enabled the club to continue.

Rangers resumed in the Birmingham Combination after World War II and then controversially moved to the Cheshire League in 1952. The 1960s were a struggle but the 1970s heralded the second 'Golden Era'.

The club was promoted to the Northern Premier League, and under Roy Chapman won the treble of the NPL, the FA Trophy - 3-0 against Barnet - and the Staffordshire Senior Cup in 1972. The FA Cup 4th Round was reached in 1975 and another FA Trophy final the following year, this time losing 3-2 after extra time to Scarborough. The returning Chapman secured a second FA Trophy success in 1979, beating Kettering Town 2-0.

Rangers were founder members of the Alliance Premier League, but after 4 seasons of toil were relegated back to the NPL in 1983. The club bounced back to win the NPL two years on but life was largely a fight against relegation, despite the six figure sum received for the transfer of Stan Collymore to Crystal Palace in December 1990.

Rangers were relegated from the Conference in 1995, and a second consecutive relegation followed, after only 2 points were gleaned from the first 19 games in the Southern Premier League. 2000 saw the team win the Dr Martens League Western Division.

Rangers qualified for the newly formed Conference North in 2004 and were promoted back to the first tier in 2006 after a penalties play off win against Droylsden. Life at the top only lasted two seasons before a return to the Conference North, and, despite appointing high profile managers Steve Bull, Tim Flowers and Matt Elliott, fortunes failed to improve.

Further relegations in 2011 and 2014 saw Rangers slip to the fourth tier of non league football. The Northern Premier League First Division South was captured at the end of the 2015/16 campaign, where they currently sit one division above this afternoon's visitors.

A few references have been found to the origins of a town football club playing in the 1870s, but the first recorded public appearance of a named South Shields AFC was in 1888. Several other local clubs flickered but it was the South Shields Adelaide Athletic club, set up in 1899, that went on to be elected to the Second Division of the Football League in 1919 as South Shields FC.

Lack of public support meant only the sale of its best players and FA Cup runs kept Shields in business. Inevitably, without money to bail the club out of impending bankruptcy, the only possible viable alternative to closure was to move. In 1930 the club left the town and moved to Gateshead, where it was welcomed.

A new club was established in 1936, nicknamed 'The Babes', before becoming 'The Mariners' in 1950 on its move from Horsley Hill to Simonside Hall. Shields played in several leagues until joining the Northern Premier League in 1968.

However 'insufficient' match attendances prompted the directors to sell Simonside Hall in 1974 with a view to returning to Horsley Hill. In a controversial and quite disastrous land fiasco both sites were transformed into housing sites. The club was penniless and homeless - and history repeated itself as the team went to Gateshead again, re-emerging as Gateshead United FC and taking Shields' place in the NPL.

A new club, South Shields Mariners FC, was formed immediately, based at the council's Jack Clark Park, and beginning a 17 year crusade for a home of its own. The club progressed through the Northern Alliance and Wearside League to the Northern League.

In 1992 the redundant and vandalised sports club and ground of Filtrona FC in Jarrow became available. It was purchased by club chairman John Rundle and the Mariners had a new home - Filtrona Park. Rundle was a volatile man, twice publicly threatening the club with closure, and (in)famously locking the gates at Filtrona Park ahead of a home match in 2006.

At the end of the 2012/13 season South Shields were relegated from Northern League Division One, and forced to move to Eden Park, Peterlee after their lease expired. Two seasons with average attendances of 69 and 70 meant the club faced a huge challenge to survive.

After being taken over by new chairman Geoff Thompson in the summer of 2015 he subsequently bought Filtrona Park, now renamed Mariners Park, and the club moved back. Under the captaincy of ex Sunderland and Middlesbrough midfielder Julio Arca the Mariners won Northern League Division Two title in 2015/16.

Last season saw a famous quadruple - the Northern League Division One title, after a 32 game winning streak, the Durham Challenge Cup, the Northern League Challenge Cup and a 4-0 victory in the FA Vase at Wembley against Cleethorpes Town. Average attendances increased to 1,226.

This season Shields are joint top of the NPL Division One North, with eleven wins and one defeat, and three games in hand. Darlington and York City, two steps higher, were both knocked out of the FA Cup.

And so on a bright, chilly morning it's the Metrolink into the city centre. After yesterday's 'tram kiss', a minor two tram crash that naturally caused major disruption across the network - and was initially blamed on signalling issues and an RTA - today's journey is less eventful and about an hour and a quarter shorter..... Just the swans at Watch House Cruising Club and a lone heron at Pomona Wharf before arrival at Piccadilly.

Then a Cross Country train and the Hat Museum at Stockport, the iconic Arighi Bianchi at Stockport and the famous Hand with Chronos at Stoke on Trent station. Into Stafford, through Victoria Gardens by the River Sow and onto Tenterbanks, past the Broad Eye Windmill and up to Gaol Road, home of HMP Stafford.

Then up Marston Road beyond Saladmaster, 'We Change Life', and the entrance to the stadium is actually on Astonfields Road. Inside is the impressive all seater Stan Robinson Stand - for £2 extra. Across the way covered terracing and to the left the Social End, which houses the Social Club. Bizarrely there is no access from inside so the gates have to be flung open for you to leave the ground to enjoy that half time pint......

Beyond the Social Club is the Astonfields Industrial Park and the Bake 'n' Butty Cafe. Up top is the Shed End, and it's a Shed End with no roof !! Instead it is festooned in South Shields flags and banners, as the Mariners are roared on by a tremendous support of over half the crowd of 955, notwithstanding the near 400 mile round trip.

Rangers are in black and white, Shields in claret and blue, and black armbands, and for the second week running there is a badger mascot..... Before we start there is an impeccably observed minute's silence in honour of Armistice Day and 10 year old Mariners’ season ticket holder Jak Fada who tragically died in the week. The tenth minute is a minute of applause from all four sides of the ground.

By that time we have had a riproaring start to the game. Gavin Cogdon, Shields’ combative centre forward bursts through and shoots just over, and then two goals. On 6 minutes Shields’ Robert Briggs gets goalside of his man and dinks an exquisite lob into the opposite corner beyond Rangers keeper Brad Caswell. Two minute later an incisive move down the left ends with Josh Craddock's cutback and Massiah McDonald swivels to fire home the equaliser.

Strike partner Dan Westwood goes close for Rangers, and McDonald has another chance he will prefer to forget. But it's the Mariners, attractive on the eye with some wonderful passing and movement, who begin to take hold of the game - all orchestrated by Arca and his sublime left foot.

Rangers survive but have three mighty scares in the five minutes to half time. Michael Richardson tricks the full back by the corner flag, cuts in and shoots. Caswell saves at the near post, the ball goes back to Richardson who lays it off for Barrie Smith and his strike is turned aside at the far post by a recovering Caswell. Briggs' gorgeous volley from Carl Finnigan's wonderfully cushioned pass is just too high and Cogdon is marginally adrift for the Mariners.

The second half picks up where the first left off. McDonald puts a free header wide, and Finnigan picks off a back pass that sold Caswell short, the keeper then slipping, but his chip fails to hit the target. There is then a temporary lull before Rangers build up a head of steam.

Sub Richard Gregory sees his header denied by a magnificent point blank one handed save from the Mariners’ Liam Connell. From the subsequent corner Rangers have two shots kicked off the line. Gregory then has another effort diverted wide, and Alex Fletcher just clears the bar with his twenty yarder.

Eleven minutes to go and McDonald receives the ball near the corner of the penalty area, shielded by two Mariners defenders. Skilfully he moves inside and fires across Connell into the far corner and Rangers lead. Arca responds, ghosting past three men and unleashing a left foot strike destined for the top corner, but Caswell saves well.

Shortly after the Mariners ship another goal. Fine wing play on the left and the ball delivered on a plate for McDonald to stroke home the third and his hat trick. Still time for Finnigan to have two chances cleared off the line but it finishes 3-1 to Rangers, in The Coming of The Massiah !!