Blyth Spartans 1 Tonbridge 1

Match 05/16/1313 - Saturday, 16th July 2016 - Pre-Season Friendly

Blyth Spartans (1) 1 Reid 1
Tonbridge (0) 1 Wheeler 85
Attendance: 213

Entrance: £4 Senior
Programme: None
Mileage: 38/993 (from South Shields)
New Ground: 289

Match Report

Day Two of the North-East tour would take us to the coastal town of Blyth and Croft Park, the home of those doughty FA Cup giant-killers, Blyth Spartans.

First stop was to be the Angel of the North, the Angels of the South meeting their northern counterpart. The Sir Anthony Gormley structure was far more impressive than I had envisaged through photographs alone. Thankfully, it has largely escaped the graffiti artist, just one minor blemish that will, hopefully, get scrubbed away very soon. The Angel would form an impressive backdrop for the rickety set of goalposts in the field below if a match was played.

Next stop was Blyth Beach on the beautifully unspoilt Northumberland coast. Without so much as a ice cream kiosk to blight it, I was more than a little envious of the dog owners who were letting their dogs run, free to frolic in what was probably quite cold water. I would love to have somewhere close by to allow my dogs such freedom.

After a brief look around Blyth, not a great deal to recommend it, it was off to the football.

From the outset, it was clear that the set up at Croft Park was a massive step up from the previous evening at Bedlington. The pitch was a lush carpet; a good sized main stand; a covered terrace opposite that would house a fair few when packed on an FA Cup night and covered terracing behind both goals.

The search for the wife's elusive glass of Merlot was once again frustrated in a well appointed clubhouse, but she said the house red was very passable! I would suspect that the clubhouse does very well on non-footballing days with it being geared for functions of all sorts.

As with Bedlington the welcome was friendly with the gate man hearing our story about the mowers at Dr. Pit Welfare and pouring scorn on the excuse telling us that the mowers were out of action when he was there a couple of years previous. Once again, no programme was produced but a guy in the club shop was glad to offer me a copy from their first pre-season game against Gateshead.

Last season, Spartans suffered the same end-of-season play-off agony as Tonbridge, losing in the semi-final, although in their case they were the highest finishing club.

The match began on a warm, but blustery afternoon with the visitors suffering a nightmare start. James Folkes gave the ball away with a misplaced pass from which the recipient was allowed to run to the edge of the box without a challenge. When one was finally made, the ball broke to Shaun Reid who thundered a 25-yarder into the top corner.

For 20 minutes, I sat a little uneasy in my seat fearing the worst as the north-easterners over-ran their visitors, but Anthony Di Bernardo was hardly stretched during this period. 1-0 at half-time was undoubtedly a fair reflection of the game at that point.

The second half saw Tonbridge quickly get a foothold in the game and created an early chance when Nathan Elder was sent through but failed to lift the ball over the advancing goalkeeper.

A further chance arrived when Luke Blewden headed over following a terrific cross from Folkes and with 10 minutes to go, the goalkeeper smothered the ball at the feet of Blewden after being sent through by Stephen Panayi.

At this point, Tonbridge had had so much of the ball during the second half, I was moved to comment to the wife that they really deserved something out of the game after such a shaky start. This duly arrived with five minutes remaining when a Blewden pass opened up space for Nick Wheeler to rifle a shot into the bottom corner for the equaliser. Considering this was their second game in 24 hours, their strong finish had been a testament to the fitness of Steve McKimm's squad.

We departed Croft Park wishing each other well for the coming season, the Blyth folk had been very hospitable and I will be watching their results with interest.

A night in Newcastle was the final act of the weekend and proved to be an eye-opener for a 65-year-old! This city has to be the maddest place on earth. Stag parties, hen nights, girls tottering around on the highest of heels all intermingled with Newcastle's Gay Pride. We made our way down to the quayside where we settled for a drink whilst watching the world go by with the wife finally getting her glass of Merlot.