Watch out, Beadle’s about ...
Jimmy Beadle was over the moon after scoring Scarborough Athletic’s first goal at the new Flamingo Land Stadium.
Football finally came home on Saturday when the doors at Scarborough Athletic’s new Flamingo Land Stadium base were flung open.
The result didn’t go Boro’s way, as they were soundly beaten 4-1 by a youthful Sheffield United, but it was more about the occasion.
Football hasn’t had a base in town for a decade, with Boro having plied their trade 20 miles down the coast in Bridlington since Scarborough FC’s desolation.
And the fans turned out in force to christen the Flamingo Land Stadium, over 2,000 watching the opening fixture.
After a minute’s applause for the fans and members of the club who have sadly passed away, Boro got the fixture underway.
The game crept away to a slow start, with neither side managing to grab a foothold.
The first real action brought the first goal, and to Boro’s frustration it went to the Blades.
The ball was whipped into the a crowded box, eluding the grasp of keeper Tommy Taylor, Matty Turnbull tried to bring things under control, but it bounced off him and settled in the net.
The Blades continued to look sharp after this, with Regan Slater twice going close with efforts from distance.
Boro huffed and puffed in attack, but nothing would break for them in the first third.
That was until just before the half-time oranges when James Cadman won a flick in the box and Jimmy Beadle poked home into the roof of the net.
Boro rang the changes at the interval, with triallists Charlie Binns and Tom White joining Billy Logan on the pitch, Joe Danby had come on just before the break.
The non-stop running of United continued to cause problems though, Boro trying to combat this by getting a little more physical with their younger opponents.
Jordan Hallam brought a fine stop out of Boro’s Taylor, before the visitors restored their advantage on the hour.
Turnbull went down in the middle of the park under challenge, but United continued playing and Rhys Norrington-Davies took advantage by smashing home.
Boro had the odd glimpse, with Sam Hewitt’s header going close, but as the game wore on the super-fit Blades began slicing through at will.
In the end Jake Wright finished the job for United, bagging two clinical late goals to stretch the cushion to four.
That gave the score a harsher tinge than Boro probably deserved, but the jublant fans weren’t bothered.