Derby delight for North Shields in 3-1 Whitley Bay win

North Shields come from a goal down to beat near-rivals Whitley Bay 3-1 in the first El Coastico derby of the season. 

Coleby Shepherd gave the visitors the lead from the penalty spot, after ‘keeper Greg Purvis brought down Michael Colqhoun.

The Robins’ drew level just before the break, with Scott McCarthy capitalising on a defensive error.

Shields doubled their lead midway through the second half through a towering Paul Van-Zandvliet header.

And Callum Smith sealed all three points for the Robins after making the most of a ‘keeper error.

It was North Shields who started the brightest, with Paul Robinson having an effort from outside the area comfortably saved by Dan Lister.

Shields continued to pile pressure on the Whitley ‘keeper, with Kyle Patton and Scott McCarthy both seeing efforts saved by the former South Shields shot-stopper.

The Seahorses managed to deal with this pressure and in the 15th minute, they were awarded a penalty when Purvis brought down Colquhoun.

Shepherd stepped up to send Greg Purvis the wrong way and give Whitley Bay the early lead.

Shortly after falling behind, the host were gifted a chance when a cross was not dealt with by the Whitley defence. The poor clearance fell to McCarthy, who bundled the ball home to draw Shields level.

Whitley began to grow back into the game and on 30th minute, Colquhoun took advantage of another defensive slip to find himself one on one with the keeper, but Purvis saved well low down.

The visitors had a strong claim for a penalty denied in 58th minute, after Marcus Giles was clearly brought down in the area, only for the referee to wave the appeals away.

Paul Van-Zandvliet had a chance to give Shields the lead but his header from a set piece was cleared off the line.

However, only moments later, the young midfielder towered up above the defence before powering a header into the back of the net to give Shields the edge.

The game was then put to bed after Lister misjudged a header from outside of the box with the ball rolling towards the Whitley goal; with substitute Callum Smith left with a simple finish.

Just before the game ended, referee Alex Clark gave Whitley defender James Martin his marching orders after a second bookable offence, leaving the visitors to finish the match a man down.

The result lifts North Shields to fourth in the league whilst Whitley Bay drop to 12th in the Northern League Division One table.