Newspaper Clippings - Dick Butler - page 35
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Mariners almost there NORTHERN Alliance leaders South Shields Mariners are now clear favourites to win the championship in their very first season . They lead the table by two points from Morpeth Town but Shields ' position is near - unbeatable with two games in hand . On Saturday Shields were without a game , and Mor peth had the opoprtunity to draw level on points with a trip to lowly Newcastle Uni versity but the students pulled off a shock 3-1 win . Because of their blank Satur day , the South Shields squad saw Morpeth lose this game withields giving the University great vocal support ! — The University responded by scoring three goals in the first half , with Morpeth missing a penalty , and on the day the students deserved their success . Morpeth , who visit Shields in the last match of the season , may be pressurised for runners - up honours , for Marine Park won 2-0 at Workington on and Saturday could catch up . Northern Alliance placings P W SS Mariners 24 19 Morpeth T 26 17 Marine Pk .22 13 26 12 Alnwick T Wallington Seaham RS Belford Wallsend Ath 25 Alston Percy Main . 20 Work'ton Res 22 Bede Coll ... 21 N'cle Univ . 19 > Bedl CW . 23 Throckley W 25 Greenwells Stockton 26 O • 23 12 25 12 26 9 9 21 11 D 3 5 8 6 5 10 75 7 3 4 22 2 5 7 4 7 42 36 28 2 11 45 28 26 8 9 73 60 26 6 10 41 49 24 1 9 52 47 23 7 3 1861 L F A Pts 2 91 26 41 4 81 36 39 4 41 15 31 7 61 46 31 6 45 37 20 7 39 42 20 9 23 34 19 9 27 32 17 2 14 35 63 16 6 16 45 81 12 4 18 32 89 12 5 15 27 79 9 Monday March 24 1975 SHIELDS FOR THE WEARSIDE LEAGUE ? DECISION IS EXPECTED SHORTLY SOUTH SHIELDS Mariners , at this point in the season , need ten points out of the last 14 to make sure of the Northern Alliance championship , but the probability is that they will clinch the title with less . If second top Morpeth Town were to win all their remaining six matches they would total 51 points Jack Clark Memorial Park on the night of Friday , May 2 , the last game of but that would mean beating Shields at the the season for both clubs . Of the two sides , Shields - who still lead the table by three points with a game in hand have what looks to be the easier run - in . They have seven games to play and the last six are all at home , whereas Morpeth's last six are equally divided home and away . - Over the Easter holidays , Shields are away to Seaham Red Star on Saturday and at home to the same opposition on Monday , while Morpeth are at home to Wallington on Good Friday and away to Wallsend Athletic on Saturday . The remaining fixtures for both sides are : South Shields Mariners : Seaham RS ( away ) , Seaham RS ( home ) , Alston ( home ) , Alnwick Town ( home ) , Newcastle University ( home ) , Bede College ( home ) , Morpeth ( home ) . Morpeth Town : Wallington ( home ) , Wallsend Athletic ( away ) , Alston ( home ) , Throckley ( away ) , Newcastle University ( home ) , South Shields Mariners ( away ) . Between two Mathematically , Shields , Morpeth , Marine Park , Alnwick and Wallington can all win the title but realistically , it is between Shields and Morpeth and the odds must be with Shields to win the championship at their first attempt . And the next question is : Where will Shields play next season ? It would seem at the moment that Shields would have no chance of getting into the Rothmans Northern League because of that . league's elaborate ground requirements ( including floodlights ) , but the possibility is that an application may go to the — Wearside League . Shields tried and failed to join that league last summer , but in view of their performance this season another application would undoubtedly receive greater consideration . But there is a problem . Shields would have to resign from the Northern Alliance before applying to the Wearside League - and they could be caught between two stools . If they resigned from the Alliance and then failed to get into the Wearside League , what would happen next season ? To decide Obviously there would have to be considerable lobbying among Wearside League clubs to assess how successful- an application would be . Mariners manager Bobby Elwell would like to take his side into a stronger league , and the club is to decide in the next two weeks which course to take . * man SOUTH Shields Mariners pulled back from a 0-2 deficit at half - time to force a 2-2 draw at Alnwick on Saturday , through goals from of the match Billy Graham and Alan Suggett . Shields had the ball in the home net after just two minutes but Ray Young's shot was disallowed , Eric Johnstone having moved offside . Alnwick shook Shields with two tremendous goals in the 26th and 29th minutes from Tiffin and Anderson , and Tiffin missed a good chance to make it three before the interval . Shields showed plenty of fight in the second half and got back into the match on the hour when Suggett scored with a magnificent - . cross shot from the corner of the penalty box . The pressure was on Alnwick after this but in a quick break Turner rattled the Shields bar with a superb 20 yard drive . However , the Mariners continued to push forward and equalised after 73 minutes when Graham stole in behind the defence to head home a cross from Young . Five minutes from the end Young missed a great chance to win it for Shields . P W D L F A Pts SS Mariners 25 19 4 2 93 28 42 Morpeth T. 26 17 5 4 81 36 39 Marine Pk . 23 14 5 4 43 15 33 Alnwick T 27 12 8 7 63 48 32 Seaham RS . 26 13 2 11 47 28 28 27 9 8 10 74 64 26 22 12 1 9 55 49 25 Wallington 24 12 4 8 44 39 28 Belford Alston Percy Main . 21 9 6 6 50 38 24 Wallsend A 26 9 6 11 41 51 24 Bede Coll 23 9 5 9 29 36 23 Work'ton R. 23 5 10 8 39 44 20 N'cle Univ . 21 8 3 10 29 34 19 Bed CW 24 Throckley Greenwells Stockton 7 2 15 35 65 16 26 4 6 16 47 81 14 27 4 4 19 33 94 12 23 2 9 5 16 27 80 Westoe los and crash a WESTOE were unable to hold of their game at Darlington o 10-0 at half - time found them selves on the wrong end of a 19-10 scoreline . Defeat for Westoe meant that Darlington completed the double over the Wood Terrace club for the Quakers were successful at Shields on December 7 . With the advantages of the wind in the first half , Westoe pressed strongly and their efforts were rewarded when Ian Dix kicked a penalty after 22 minutes . Eight minutes later Dix was on target again with another penalty and just before half - time Turnbull . |
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