Newcastle Benfield 0 North Shields 2: Double delight as Robins return to winning ways

The Robins returned to winning ways as goals from Adam Forster and Kyle Patton helped them secure a 2-0 away win over Newcastle Benfield.

Benfield almost took the lead early on, when Paul Brayson’s curled effort struck the crossbar.

But the Robins entered the break in front, following Forster’s spectacular volley from the edge of the box.

The hosts piled the pressure on in the second half in search of an equalising goal.

However, Patton’s late penalty, after he was brought down by the keeper, sealed all three points and the league double over the Lions.

The hosts were looking to start brightly and after two minutes, Cyril Giraud saw his effort, from the edge of the box, cleared off the line by Chris McDonald.

Shields came close in the sixth minute when a deep cross from Patton was snatched off the head of Scott McCarthy by the Benfield shot-stopper.

Only one minute later, a smart ball from Giraud found Brayson in space, with the attacker cutting inside of his man, before curling his effort against the top of the crossbar.

With the hosts still wondering how they hadn’t taken the lead, Shields took advantage when, in the 17th minute, Forster collected a Callum Smith pass before smashing his volley into the top corner of the net.

Shields could have easily had a second moments later when Ryan Carr’s towering header, from a Nick Cassidy cross, was excellently tipped over the crossbar by Andrew Grainger.

In the 37th minute, the visitors missed a golden opportunity to double their lead, with McCarthy’s low cross getting tipped away by Grainger. After collecting the rebound and rounding the keeper, Smith could only fire wide.

Shortly after Smith’s miss, McCarthy outskilled his marker before firing the ball across the goalmouth, narrowly missing a sliding Carr at the far post.

Benfield started the second half strongly, with Shields defender Paul New clearing the ball off the line before Benfield defender Lewis Scorgie could tap home.

Having narrowly missed a golden opportunity in the first half, Brayson was gifted another chance in the 53rd minute when the Robins turned the ball over in defence.

Somehow, with only the keeper to beat, Brayson’s effort sliced horribly wide when it would have been easier to hit the target.

The hosts came close to levelling the game up when a Giraud corner in the 85th minute needed to be punched away by Purvis; with the ball eventually being cleared by a defender.

But only two minutes later, Shields were gifted a chance to put the game to ben when Patton was brought down in the penalty area by Grainger.

Patton stepped up to take the spot kick himself; sending the keeper the wrong way to give Shields a two-goal advantage.

The hosts almost notched a consolation goal deep into added time, but Jack Cooper’s thunderous effort from inside the penalty area flew inches over the crossbar.

This results lifts North Shields into fourth place in the Ebac Northern League Division One table, whilst Newcastle Benfield drop one place to 12th.