Sunderland West End 2–2 Shotton Colliery — Shotton win 4–2 on penalties
As far as proper cup ties go — you couldn’t go far wrong with this one
Shotton Colliery completed a comeback from 2–0 to seal a win via penalties in the Durham Challenge Cup.
The visitors got off to a strong start, but were rueing their chances with less than 10 minutes on the clock when West End reacted quickly at a corner and Lynn headed home.
Despite the setback, the Yakkas kept carving out chances but some last ditch tackles and the crossbar prevented any break through.
West End, who currently sit mid table in the Ebac Northern League Division Two, showed glimpses of being the club from the higher division with some slick play.
However, the Yakkas were far from out of this one- although by half time they may have been wondering just how they were 2–0 down.
Tom Hunter picked up the ball at the near post and fired home from an extremely tight angle. The scoreline was harsh, but the hosts were rewarded for taking the chances Shotton couldn’t.
Second half and the visitors began to play with the freedom of a side that perhaps felt had nothing to lose — and they were finally back in it.
Danny Maddison had put in one hell of a shift, and was rewarded with a goal. His effort was almost kept out by the West End keeper, but the linesman judged the ball to have crossed the line. 2–1 and very much game on.
The Yakkas didn’t look like a side in the league below their hosts, and were starting to get a real foothold in the match.
Chances were coming thick and fast, but the lack of a finishing edge continued to be a problem.
This wasn’t for the want of trying, and it did feel that a leveller was just around the corner. They left it late, but it did come — and no one could say it wasn’t deserved.
In what was easily the move of the match, Jay Nicholson played substitute Jamie Bennett in down the left hand side and his inch perfect cross was headed back across the keeper and into the back of the net by Matty Johnson. 2–2 with just five minutes left on the clock.
As it turned out, neither side could get the job done in normal times — so to penalties we went.
The hero of the night would end up being Yakkas keeper Max Rundle who saved two of West End’s four penalties which, thanks to Shotton missing just the one, was enough to send the Wearside League side into the next round of the cup.
A feisty, end to end cup tie was edged by the Yakkas, a side that continues to do themselves and the village proud.
Fingers crossed for a nice, juicy tie in the next round of the cup. First and foremost, however, it’ll be back to league business with a trip to North Yorkshire to face Richmond Town.
