Holidays and injuries meant that the Grey Horse could only muster 13 fit players for this vital game against their promotion rivals. Manager Marty Joyce had his hand forced due to the players available and adopted a 4-5-1 formation. Grey Horse started brightly however and the midfield controlled play with a lot of possession and good passing play. It was no suprise then when Mark Greenwood linked up well and finished cooley to give the Shildon team a 1-0 lead on 15 mins. Grey horse continued to play well, however, with a minute of the half remaining Southwick forced a corner. A floated ball into the box wasn’t dealt with and an easy header was dispatched into the net to leave a half time score of 1-1. Some stern words at half time were needed by the manager to get everyone’s focus back onto the job in hand. Only two minutes into the second half and the Grey Horse were back in the lead. A good double tackle and through ball by Dave Bulleyment set up lively front man John Myers who reacted quickly and finished well as the Southwick keeper was beaten to the ball. The introduction of Brian Burn and Jeff Dixon gave the Shildon team fresh impetuous and more chances were created including one mazy run by Burn which resulted in him shooting into the side netting from an acute angle. The game was made safe with five minutes remaining when Myers again was quickest to react this time after good work from Kev Costello had set him up for his second and Shildons third. A final score of 3-1 was well deserved and an excellent all round team performance.
