Shildon ease past Whickham to lift Durham Challenge Cup

Shildon 4-0 Whickham

Shildon ran riot against Whickham scoring four goals to win the Durham County FA ‘Frank Pattison’ challenge cup final for the 7th time in the club’s history.

Ben Reay scored the first goal of the game for the Railwaymen in the 20th minute. It was then Nathan Greenwood who doubled the lead for Shildon in the 56th minute.

Shildon pushed on to score another, that came from substitute Oliver Green in the 89th minute of the game to make it 3-0.

Green scored his second of the game only a couple minutes later in injury time to wrap up a tremendous cup final victory for the Railwaymen.

Shildon were looking to secure some silverware after an already impressive season where they sit second in the league. Whickham on the other hand were hoping to win this cup after failing to win in the final last year, losing 3-0 to West Auckland Town.

Reay opened the scoring in the first half, putting the ball through the defenders legs and slotting home into the bottom corner of the goal at the Roker End.

Whickham pushed hard for an equaliser before the break but couldn’t find a way to cut open Shildon’s strong defence. This would be a common occurrence that the Lang Jacks suffered for the rest of the game.

Early in the second half, Shildon doubled their lead to get one hand on the trophy. Greenwood smashed the ball into the bottom corner from outside the box to make it two.

After being named on the bench, Green came on late in the second half and managed to score a brace. The first was a strike that bounced off the Whickham defender, rolling into the net.

The second was a ball across the box which was tapped home by Green. This secured a dominant win for Railwaymen and allowed them to take the trophy back home to Shildon.

Now, attention turns back to the league where Shildon will have a play-off run for the second time in just as many seasons, whilst Whickham’s bid for survival goes down to the final day.