Wembley dream now a reality for Mariners

Carl Finnigan celebrates making it 3-0 to South Shields in their Buildbase FA Vase semi-final clash WITH a trip to Wembley at stake, South Shields welcomed Coleshill Town to a packed Mariners Park for the second leg of their Buildbase FA Vase semi-final – and the Mariners did not let their fans down.

South Shields went into the game with a slender one-goal advantage, thanks to their 2-1 away win last weekend in Warwickshire.

In front of a record crowd of 3,464, Shields completely dominated the whole of the match and ended up convincing 4-0 winners on the day, and 6-1 on aggregate.

The South Shields supporters were in good voice and after just 10 minutes, Shields began to find their rhythm.

Wayne Phillips played the ball to Andrew Stephenson, but his shot hit the bar and was cleared, then, a minute later, Julio Arca’s free kick was well saved by Coleshill goalkeeper, Paul Hathaway.

On 32 minutes, David Foley went down the right and crossed to Stephenson, but he scuffed his shot and Hathaway saved easily. Three minutes later, Darren Lough crossed the ball to Foley, but his shot was saved well by Hathaway.

Coleshill finally had their first chance of the game on 37 minutes, when Dean Rathbone fired over the bar, past goalkeeper Liam Connell.

Five minutes before the interval, Wayne Phillips played in a ball from the left-hand side to Foley, whose close-range shot was saved by keeper Rathbone.

On 45 minutes, Shields took a deserved lead when Gavin Cogdon