It’s all hotting up across Steps 3 and 4
Farsley punished at death
THIS eagerly anticipated clash of the joint leaders finished with late drama as South Shields scored an injury time winner.
As expected, there was little to call between two impressive sides, who went toe-to-toe in a tight encounter.
In the end it boiled down to a flick from defender Dillon Morse as the clock wound down that dramatically won the game.
Delighted South Shields joint-manager Lee Picton said “It was by no means a classic in terms of the quality of football.
“It’s one of those games that came down to the final minutes and we got the win, which I thought we deserved.
“The last few minutes were certainly eventful and the roof came off Mariners Park when we got the late winner.
“Out of all the teams that have come here in the league Farsley have tested us the most, so credit to them.
“We were well below our best in the first half, but the second half performance was much more like it.”
The Mariners struggled in the opening exchanges, unable to keep possession as the Yorkshire visitors' pressing disrupted their flow.
Despite this, it was the hosts who had the first good chance when John Gillies forced a good save at the near post from Kyle Trenerry.
Farsley’s best chance of the first half fell to Luke Parkin who, following a back- pass from Jon Shaw, made space for himself to test Liam Connell.
With the half coming to a close, Farsley almost broke
the deadlock when James Spencer played in Dave Syers, only for the midfielder to slice wide.
A tight game burst into life in the second period. Lee Mason fired an impressive effort against the post before Spencer nearly scored.
The Celtic striker got on to a Nathan Cartman cross and forced an incredible save from Shields’ keeper Connell.
The winning goal came at the death, Mason’s cross bundled into the six-yard box for Morse to spark jubilant scenes.
That was harsh on a battling Farsley for whom manager Adam Lakeland said:
“We did well to create the number of chances we did in the game, but we failed to capitalise on them.
“I’m disappointed but we’ll go again. It’s our first defeat in about 16 games and we have 17 or 18 left. If we put in another run like that together we’ll win.” STAR MAN: Danny Ellis (Farsley) ENTERTAINMENT: ★★★★★