Billingham Town

This was played on chilly and windy afternoon at Northfield School at Billingham. A game which we could not afford to lose and we started the game confidently playing against the wind. As the first half progressed we pressed the home team more and more creating some good chances. The opposition keeper made several good saves but finally it was Hudson who made the break through and when he scored the second the opposition heads were down. We should have made it 3-0 but for a glaring miss. This meant a half time score of 2-0 with Saltburn in control.

The second half began with Billingham stepping up a gear and were more of a threat though we did create a half chance or two before a defensive mistake allowed them to pull a goal back. This gave the opposition the impetus they needed and another defensive mistake gave them the equaliser. The Billingham keeper was inspired and made several good saves and defenders blocking shots on goal. We never let our heads go down and deserved the lead when a huge clearance from our keeper Walters bounced just outside their penalty box and Hudson was on hand to head home and gave him his hat trick. The game was then spoilt by some bad and indifferent refereeing decisions. The opposition equalised when two blatant pushes by Billingham players on Saltburn defenders were ignored by the referee. They then went ahead when a cracking shot from the edge of the penalty area went in. The Saltburn keeper made an excellent effort to save it and got his left hand to the ball but was unable to get a full hand on it. However we continued to strive forward and got our just rewards when Hudson beat three players to score his fourth goal. this was to be the final goal of the game and ended 4-4. A much better performance than last week and overall we perhaps should have won the game. Although we were partly to blame we were undone by a poor referee. Man of the match was given to Hudson though Atkinson ran him close. Overall this was a good game and performances by the Saltburn players.