Cleethorpes 0 South Shields 4

Match 139/16/1446 - Sunday, 21st May 2017 - FA Vase Final

Cleethorpes (0) 0
South Shields (1) 4 Finnigan 43 (pen) Morse 80 Foley 86,89
Combined Attendance: 38,224
Played at Wembley Stadium

Entrance: £5
Combined Programme: £5
Mileage: 100/9,659

Match Report

This year’s Non-League Finals Day took very much the same route as last year's with the Vase Final ending with, as a bare statistic, a one-sided scoreline and the Trophy Final going the way of a club newly relegated from the National League. But the day produced two very watchable matches; the Vase game was not as one-sided as the score suggests and a quite thrilling, surprisingly open, Trophy Final.

This year my ticket was bought within a group which added to the day greatly and also produced the ridiculously cheap ticket of just a fiver. For two games at Wembley? Don’t mind if I do!

Although South Shields didn’t quite bring as many down as Hereford last season but their 12,000-plus following dwarfed their opponents, Cleethorpes and was almost as many as York and Macclesfield combined for the senior final.

There was the thorny issue of whether the Northern League side had a right to be at Wembley at all after their Fourth Round tie at home to last season’s winners Morpeth Town was abandoned with just eight minutes remaining and South Shields losing 4-2 following a floodlight failure. There will always be a conspiracy theory that somebody pulled the plug. They went on to win the replayed game 4-0.

Right from the outset it became clear that Cleethorpes had an uphill battle of their hands as South Shields and were left to rely on their rather diminutive goalkeeper, Liam Higton, to keep the scoreline goalless.

Just as Cleethorpes were growing into the game, South Shields opened the scoring from the spot after Tim Lowe had clumsily brought down Gavin Cogdon, who will be remembered by Tunbridge Wells supporters as a scorer for Spennymoor in their Vase Final of 2013. Carl Finnigan calmly disposed of the penalty kick to give the Mariners a half-time lead but not before Higton produced a magnificent save to turn a shot from Cogdon onto the crossbar.

Higton repeated his heroics five minutes into the second period this time touching a fierce shot from David Foley onto the woodwork.

From about the hour mark, the Wembley pitch and quite possibly the occasion started to drain the energy from the legs of the Cleethorpes side with one or another player needing attention for cramp.

To their credit, the Lincolnshire side battled on and it was not until the final ten minutes that South Shields made the game safe and perhaps put a scoreline on the board that reflected their superiority but, if no-one else, Liam Higton didn’t deserve.

A free kick from Robert Briggs expertly detected the head of Dillon Morse at the far post after 81 minutes and with five minutes remaining an exquisite through ball, from ex-Gillingham favourite (as we were told by Jim Case), Michael Richardson sent Foley clear for a good finish.

Foley wrapped up proceedings with a shot from outside of the area into the top corner as Cleethorpes were begging for the final whistle.

So, once more (the eighth in nine Vase Finals), it is a Northern League side that have prevailed.

Pictures below courtesy of Wesley Filtness, who, from pitchside, was able to get front on shots!