Lowe marks milestone with winner
NATHAN Lowe picked the perfect way to mark his 100th appearance for South Shields as he struck the winner in their narrow home win against Atherton Collieries.
It was the former FC United of Manchester midfielder that had the first sight of goal on six minutes when he brought a routine save out of visitors keeper Danny Taberner.
But the number one was tested more severely minutes later when Mariners midfielder Robert Briggs brought a stunning save out of him with a powerful shot.
An opening goal seemed inevitable and it arrived on 11 minutes when Sam Hodgson fired home at the second attempt after Taberner kept out his initial effort. 2 1
The lead would last just six minutes as Gaz Peet drove forward from inside his own half and crashed an effort beyond Myles Boney from the edge of the Mariners box.
Neither side could add to the scoring ahead of half-time, but that all changed two minutes after the restart when Lowe came to the fore.
The 1st Cloud Arena favourite made the most of some neat approach play from Dillon Morse and Alex Kempster to poke a shot goalwards that left Taberner with no chance.
There was little sign of nerves from the home faithful or Kevin Phillips side as they comfortably saw out time and gave a further boost to their promotion hopes.
Those hopes were further raised with the news league leaders Matlock Town had been held to a draw at Whitby Town – a combination of results that leaves the Mariners a point behind the Gladiators.
SOUTH SHIELDS: Boney, Hunter, Adams, Rose, Morse, Bodenham, Jenkins (Tee), Lowe, Hodgson (Hooper), Briggs, Kempster Subs: Shaw, Mcgowan, Osei
ATHERTON COLLIERIES: Taberner, Smith, Peet, Amado, Lafferty, Defreitas-hansen, Kershaw (Gillam), Lambert, Daniels (Cusani), Clarke (Smith) Subs: Battersby, Sephton
Parity remained in place until half-time, but the early stages of the second half were all about Alun Armstrong’s side with Mondal firing narrowly over, Jack Lambert bringing a smart save out of visiting keeper Well Stanway and Jarrett Rivers dragging a shot just beyond the far post.
But their persistence paid off and former Gateshead full-back Smith was the main beneficiary as he grabbed the goal that would ultimately decide the contest just before the hour. Lambert’s intelligent hold-up play allowed him to release Smith on an overlap and he crashed a shot across Stanway.
Armstrong introduced an extra defender in Alex Storey to protect his side’s lead and it did the trick as their miserable run of form came to an end.