NORTH SHIELDS 2 WHITLEY BAY 1
Saturday 4th April 2026
Report by Jensen Coleman
After wrapping up a place in the play-offs with a 5-0 win at Northallerton Town on Tuesday, Bay were on the road again; this time for the latest edition of El Clasicoast and a clash with hosts North Shields, who were chasing a play-off place themselves. Manager Jay Bates made two changes from the side that guaranteed post-regular-season football for Bay; Kieren Aplin and Alan Achuo dropped to the bench in favour of Robbie Christie and Alfie Livemore. Captain Michael Scott was also welcomed back into the starting XI.
Bay were to be right up against it from the off, as early chances for Shields forward Lee Mason came and went. A decent header over the bar following a cross by Lewis Suddick was swiftly followed by a great effort coming back off the far post minutes after.
Jordan Lashley was another Shields player who looked bright early on; his free kick headed away by Jack Errington before the hosts’ No.11 saw a further strike blocked into the path of Mason who then saw his shot blocked by Michael Scott. Ben Sampson also saw a header go wide from a Lashley free kick.
With the game just over 20 minutes old, the home side took the lead that their dominance had warranted, as Lashley’s ball through to Callum Ross saw the Shields No.4 cut inside before curling a great strike into the far corner past Mauro Asikaogu (1-0).
Jay Bates’s men needed a response fast, and they may have got it had Alfie Livermore managed to get his shot away following Josh Stewart’s run down the right, but it was no avail. Ross almost added to his personal tally at the Whitley Bay end, only for the wild effort to go well wide and well over the bar.
Bay thought they had a fair appeal for a penalty on the half-hour mark when Livermore went down in the box under a supposed challenge by Reece Wanless. However, referee Reagan Webber deemed the Bay No.11 to have dived, and as a result, Livermore was cautioned for simulation.
North Shields should have really doubled their advantage at the other end when Lee Mason’s trickery saw himself slice through the Bay defence, but he somehow scooped the ball over the bar from merely two yards out; a huge let-off for the visitors.
The away side weren’t to be let off much longer with ten minutes of the first half to go, and it was a stunner. Lashley had been ever-present for the hosts up to this point, and the winger took aim from 30 yards out and fired home a brilliant strike which crashed in off the bar; Asikaogu left well and truly stranded with Bay struggling to contain a rampant North Shields front three (2-0).
The second half saw a much better performance from Bay; akin to that of Tuesday night’s win at Northallerton with the intent much clearer, as Thompson battered a strike just wide of the far post from Mackenzie Sharpe’s lay-off.
The Robins, however, could have been out of sight just before the hour mark when Dan Cherry’s header from Lashley’s corner came back off the bar and was subsequently cleared by Errington. At North Shields’s end, though, Thompson curled a fine effort well wide from a corner kick by Callum Larmouth.
Thompson would get the goal he had been threatening on the 64th minute, as his strike from substitute Jake Forster’s cut-back deflected in past Shields goalkeeper Callum Elliott; all of a sudden, it was game on at the Daren Persson Stadium (2-1).
Having opened the scoring earlier in the game, Callum Ross was given his marching orders halfway into the second half after a rash challenge on Larmouth, leaving the referee with little choice but to produce a red card; Shields were down to ten. Bay almost punished Shields from the subsequent free kick, but Sharpe would send an ambitious first-time strike wide.
Shields substitute Nelson Ogbewe should have wrapped up the three points with ten minutes to go, but his failure to work the space before tucking the ball home saw the ball hammered over the bar by fellow substitute Ryan Carr.
In the end, it was North Shields who completed a league double over the Bay with their first-half dominance proving more than enough for all three points. While there was a much improved showing from Jay Bates’s visitors in the second half, it saw Mikel Thompson’s consolation come too little too late with the damage already done by their local rivals.
While a different competition, Bay welcome North Shields to Hillheads on Wednesday for a rearranged Northumberland Senior Cup quarter-final clash to see who takes another step towards the final at St. James’s Park. In terms of league action, Bay are at home to West Auckland Town on April 11th (next Saturday).
Whitley Bay: Asikaogu, Stewart, Christie (Aplin, 58’), Larmouth (Williams, 82’), Scott [c], Errington, Shilling (Forster 58’), (Achuo 86'), Kanda, Sharpe, Thompson, Livermore (Nkunku, 58’)
Cautions: Livermore (30’), Nkunku (91’)
Attendance: 1,235
Referee: Reagan Webber
Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcqweb/albums/72177720332905447
Player of the Match: Josh Stewart - Despite being on the losing side, the Bay right-back looked the brightest spark in a first half which fizzled out quickly from a visiting perspective, but continued to probe forward, hoping to create openings throughout and lent a hand to Mikel Thompson’s consolation effort.
