South Shields suffered penalty shoot-out heartache as they were beaten by old foes Warrington Town at the 1st Cloud Arena. The two sides battled to a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes as a goal from Jordan Buckley cancelled out a first-half opener from Darius Osei.
But the Yellows sealed the progress as they came through a nervy penalty shoot-out to condemn their hosts to another season in the Northern Premier League’s top tier. Both sides had half-chances inside the opening ten minutes with Mariners captain Robert Briggs firing over from the edge of the area and Jordan Buckley miscuing a shot at the near post for the visitors.
The Mariners faithful thought their side had opened the scoring on seven minutes when JJ Hooper got on the end of a cross from Darius Osei and headed the ball inside the far corner. However, the celebrations from the vast majority of those inside the 1st Cloud Arena were cut short by an offside flag.
Those celebrations were started once again just before the midway point of the half - and this time, they would not be interrupted. Hooper broke into the right-hand side of the area after good work from the impressive Will McGowan and saw his low drive blocked by Yellows keeper Dan Atherton.
It would be a temporary reprieved for the visitors as the ball was worked back into their area and Osei produced a fine turn and finish to give his side a deserved lead. It was Warrington that ended the half on the front foot with Bohan Dixon and Josh Amis both going close to getting their side back on level-terms ahead of the interval.
The teams made their way towards the dressing rooms but an incident in the tunnel saw stewards and the match officials forced to separate players from both sides. No punishments seemed to be handed out as the players emerged after the restart - but the events did bring some intensity into the visitors during the early stages of the second-half.
That clear improvement produced the maximum reward on 55 minutes Jordan Buckley punished a defensive mix-up between Jon Shaw and Myles Boney before tucking the ball into the open net. The Yellows continued to apply pressure and came within inches of going in front for the first time on the night when Sean Williams curled a free-kick over the wall - but was denied by the fingertips of Boney as the Mariners number one tipped the ball on to the post.
After being second best for the majority of the half, the Mariners did spark into life with Jack Bodenham, Jordan Hunter and Darius Osei all trying their luck without success to send the game into an additional 30 minutes. It was the visitors that made a better start to extra-time with Williams going close with another free-kick and substitute Isaac Buckley-Ricketts curling a shot narrowly off target as the first period drew to a close.
Both keepers came to the fore in the second period with Boney somehow keeping out a header from Mitch Duggan and visitors stopper Atherton clawing an Osei volley to safety to force the game into a penalty shoot-out. The Yellows held their nerve from 12 yards as Dan Atherton saved a sudden-death spot-kick from Jordan Hunter to send his side into a play-off final meeting with Scarborough Athletic.
South Shields: Boney, Hunter, Adams, Shaw, Morse, Bodenham, Wilding (Rose), Briggs, Hooper (Hodgson), McGowan (Jenkins), Osei Subs: Tee, Kempster
Warrington Town: Atherton, Duggan, Regan, Harris, Roberts, Gumbs, Buckley (Buckley-Ricketts), Williams, Amis (Mackreth (Mols)), Dixon, Clarke Subs: Duffy, Hough
Stockton Town secured their place in the East Division play-off final with an impressive 2-1 win at Cleethorpes Town. Kevin Hayes and Adam Nicholson put the Anchors in command before Owls captain Alex Flett halved the deficit for his side.
But Michael Dunwell’s men would not be denied and held on to claim a win and set up a an all-Teesside final against Marske United.
The Seasiders saw off former Northern League rivals Shildon as a Jason Kennedy goal in extra-time put them through after Dean Thexton had cancelled out an Adam Boyes opener.
