Miserable Mariners all at sea in week of woe

SOUTH Shields won’t look back on the last seven days with any satisfaction.

Last weekend, they wasted a twogoal lead in their home draw against Bamber Bridge and followed that up with a narrow defeat at Grantham Town in midweek.

However, it was this home defeat against title rivals Warrington Town that will have left the Mariners faithful rocking more than their previous two results.

A failure to shake off a below-par opening half-hour left Graham Fenton and Lee Picton’s side with too much to do in the second half and cost them their unbeaten home record in the league this season.

It had all seemed so different two hours earlier as the Mariners dominated the early stages and enjoyed long spells as possession.

They created the first chance of the game on two minutes when a patient build-up led to Blair Adams finding David Foley on the edge of the area.

The former Spennymoor Town forward took a touch to settle himself before trying his luck from the edge of the area.

Foley hadn’t connected well with the shot but Yellows goalkeeper Anthony Mcmillan almost spilled it into his net and was left relieved when the ball crept just past his far post.

There was plenty of effort and endeavour from both sides but neither could create any real goalscoring opportunities until the midway point of the first half.

Again, it fell to the Mariners, as Luke Daly’s stinging low cross looked to have left Lee Mason with a simple tap-in, but a combination of three Yellows defenders somehow kept the ball out of the net and cleared the ball to safety.

That desperate defending was rewarded when the visitors went ahead two minutes later.