Well done lads for a great second half performance ( so I'm told ) and avoiding what could have been a possible banana skin.

0 - 0 half time then goals by Carling (again ) Mcgill 2 ( about time ) Bruno 1 ( overdue ) and Skelly 1 ( at last )

As you all know I'm confined to barracks now and disappointed not to have been able to see this unbeaten run of three games.

However as long we keep picking up the points I will be very happy.

Well done Burto, Cappy and all the players

Just seen the rest of the first division results and for once they have all gone in our favour.

Cracking second half performance with some really well worked goals. The first half wasn't attractive but the keeper and woodwork stopped us from having 2 or 3 by half time. Once Leon's goal went in you could sense the confidence and the goals flowed from there. Bruno's 'overhead flick' was a great finish and who knows how he got that one in. Skelly's open goal miss didn't seem to effect him as he went on to score with a great individual finish.

Overall it was a great result. Stokesley have a lot of pace and did threaten, but their final pass and defending let them down in this one. I'm sure they can grab a win off somebody - just glad it wasn't us. Ashington will be another tough road trip but then all eyes on the home game against South Shields. A win in either of those should definitely secure our place in the league next season.

Well done management and players - top effort and result.

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"I'm not finished when I'm tired, I'm finished when I'm done"

Completely agree Steve. Burto rewarded those players that earned a point at West Auckland by keeping an unchanged team with Lips in goal, Basher, Talla, Leon and Wheats at the back, Charlo, Burto, Gilly and Steve Cochrane in midfield and Bruno and Skelly up front. Tom Marron was still injured but Marske still had a strong bench with Dekka, Josh Myers, Rawsy, Owen and Benn. Marske dominated the first half but just couldn't score with Charlo (I think) and Gilly both hitting the woodwork in the first half. The second half was a completely different story as Marske dominated from start to finish and I don't think Lips had a save to make. The breakthrough came from another headed goal from Leon from another pinpoint Burto corner. I can't comment on the second goal (a header from Gilly from a Skelly corner I believe) as I was retrieving a ball from out of the ground (!!) but the last three goals were all excellent in their own way. The third was a great team goal with Basher crossing from the right for Charlo to head the ball back across goal for Gilly to head in. The fourth goal was an excellent finish from Bruno from close range with a hooked near overhead kick finish with the assist from Charlo again. The final goal was an excellent long range finish from Skelly which made up for his awful open goal miss earlier in the game (sorry Skelly, had to mention it - just lucky Moss didn't catch it on camera!!).

Match sponsor Keith Wilkinson chose Skelly as MOM which was a decent call though my choice would probably have been Charlo. All in all it was an excellent team performance with all players playing a part in the victory. Credit to Stokesley who kept going to the final whistle and tried to play football throughout (possibly in the wrong parts of the pitch at times).

As a final thought, it was great to see Josh get on for the last 10-15 minutes. I think that him and Tommy Marron could make an excellent centre midfield partnership next season.

Thanks for the report Mark. I'm pleased to hear that Josh got on and my mate Anthony who hadn't seen him play before was really impressed.

Also I like the sound of your suggestion for next year.

Let's hope we can finish the season off with a few more wins.

Congratulations on your winnings too mate.

View from the bench was that Steve Cochrane was MOM and put in an excellent performance despite grumblings from the stand. Some players will never be the fans favorites and it doesnt matter how well they perform will never gain that recognition. However at the end of the day its what the manager thinks that counts and it looks like Paul's decision to bring back some 'old-heads' is starting pay dividends and steady the ship.

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'If God wanted us to play football in the air he'd have put f***ing goals in the sky!'

I have to admire your loyalty Mark but why did he get rid of them in the first place ?

Jimmy it's not about loyalty although I try to be loyal to my friends, I am just stating a fact. Paul let Stevie go as at the time he was just coming back from injury and there was plenty of midfield competition at that time. It's a credit to Steve and his respect for Pauls decision that he was prepared to come back and help out when the squad became depleted.

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'If God wanted us to play football in the air he'd have put f***ing goals in the sky!'

We all see things from a different perspective; where you sit is what you see, and I'm not talking about your seat in the stand. In my opinion the first half was very poor and neither team could claim northern league 1st division status more like Sunday league. While we did hit the woodwork that was a small highlight in a poor performance and it was easy to see why Stokesley are where they are. We played at their level.
The second half was much better and after we scored the Stokesley heads went down and from there on in it was just a matter of how many.
One of the second half differences was the use of wide players. Owen did a fair job of staying wide and Charlo made two assists from a wider position heading well for Chris to score his first.
Many of the shouts from the fans seem to encourage more width, use all of the pitch, and to get to the by-line and behind the defence. We attempted and succeeded more times with this approach on Saturday. Perhaps we'll see more of this in coming weeks.
While we cant be sure of other teams performances it looks like we need to get to 46 pts to be absolutely sure of 1st division play next season. Tow Law cant reach out points total. And I assume that the next lowest team, Jarrow could win all remaining games as their form is very good right now. Of course teams between Jarrow and Marske could slip up to our advantage.

Great to get back to winning ways, especially in such emphatic fashion.

The first 25 minutes was scrappy and pretty even but once Charlo hit the bar after a great ball from Cochrane, it was one-way traffic. We got stronger and stronger as the half went on and I was worried the half-time break might halt our momentum.

Thankfully it didn't as Leon Carling put us 1-0 up, heading home Charlo's corner on 49 minutes.

The second came from another corner, this time Skelly delivering the ball in for Gilly to head home. There was a defender on the line who was ready to hoof the ball clear but he missed it completely and it bounced in. (video to come for that one)

Two goals in three minutes put the game beyond doubt - Gilly making it 3-0 after a peach of a ball from Bruno was headed back across goal by Charlo for Gilly to score with a bullet header. The fourth was similar, with Basher sending the ball in for Charlo to knock back to Bruno who scored with a terrific finish.

It was nearly 5-0 shortly after when sub Owen carved his way through the Stokesley defence and unselfishly played in Skelly who sidefooted the ball wide when it looked easier to score.

We then saw the introduction of Josh after an 18-month injury lay-off. It took him a few minutes to get up to speed but once he put his first tackle in (a strong, committed one as well) it seemed like he'd never been away.

Skelly got the goal he deserved in stoppage time when he curled a great shot past the keeper from the edge of the box.

A convincing win in the end and we probably could've had seven or eight. Yes, it was "only" Stokesley but they're a much better side than they were early in the season and the pressure was really on our lads to get a result and they delivered. You can't ask any more than that. Well done to the players and Burto.

We can't rest on our laurels yet as Jarrow Roofing are still battling hard but there are still plenty of points for us to pick up, especially with three of our last four games being at home.

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