Shildon AFC 0 v 0 Northallerton Town 15/08/09 FA Cup EP

Today we made our first trip up to Shildon to see the Railwaymen take on Northallerton Town in the FA Cup Extra Preliminary round. It was a windy day which immediately made us think that it would be a day to play good passing football along the ground and to peoples feet. What we got was completely the opposite of what we expected. Right from the first whistle it was played in the air and alot of long balls being lumped forward and after the opening exchanges we knew that we were in for a long afternoon. Both teams never got into their rhythm and neither side seemed to be able string a few passes together and there were only a few glimpses of what Shildon could do passing it along the floor. The best of the chances went to Shildon in the first half and a few good chances were put over the bar, there were also a few shots that were hit straight at the keeper but apart from that there weren't many clear cut chances. The second half also turned out to be much of the same apart from right at the start when Northallerton forced the Shildon keeper into a good save. After that it was almost a carbon copy of the first half with long balls being played and neither team realising that the air ball was not the way to go about things. The final whistle went with Northallerton being the most pleased with the replay as they never really looked like troubling the Shildon keeper and his defence. A game not really worth the £6 admission but a game of football non the less.