Dunston (Home): Northern League Division 1: Tuesday 6th Sept 2011

Result: Marske United 2 Dunston UTS 6     Scorers: - McGill, Charlton

After an excellent performance in the unlucky FA Cup defeat to Whitley Bay it was no surprise to see Burto name an unchanged side for the visit of Dunston UTS to the GER Stadium.

The game was played in a near gale force wind with Dunston having the wind in their favour in the first half, and the visitors should have taken the lead after only 90 seconds when a mistake at the back from Adam Wheatley let in Anthony Hume but he was unable to find the target when it looked easier to score.

Marske took the lead after only four minutes.  A corner from Karl Charlton was cleared to the edge of the box where Steve Cochrane played a superb ball back to Charlton who beat his marker and crossed for Chris McGill to score.

For the next 10 minutes Marske continued to play well with a strong wind in their faces, but the next chance fell to Dunston when Bradley Brooking hit a shot from around 35 yards which went just wide. After 19 minutes a good cross from Dom Gamble was flicked on by McGill but his effort just missed the target.

The equaliser came just a minute later when a corner from the left from Terry Galbraith was headed home at close range by Anthony Hume. 

It was nearly 2-1 to Dunston in the 22nd minute as another excellent corner from Galbriath was cleared off the line.

Marske were forced into making a change in the 24th minute with Cochrane being replaced by Jonathan Burton.

Marske fell behind on the half hour mark with a replica goal to the equaliser, a Galbraith corner headed home at close range by an unmarked Hume. 

Marske had a chance to equalise from the kick off as Danny Brunskill controlled the ball and played in Charlton whose pinpoint cross was headed goalward by McGill, but keeper Liam Connell saved well.

After 34 minutes, Dunston made it 3-1 when a free kick was spilled by McDonald and Hume scored his hat-trick from close range. 

Marske were all at sea defensively and just two minutes later it was 4-1 when from a long throw, a looping header from Chris Swailes went over McDonald’s outstretched hand and into the net.

Brooking then had a chance to make it five when he volleyed over a cross from the left, but in injury time in the first half it became 5-1 to Dunston when Anthony Roberts was harshly penalised by the ref and Lee McAndrew’s free kick from 25 yards was well placed into the bottom left hand corner of McDonald’s goal.

With the last kick off the half Adam Gell had a chance to reduce the arrears but shot wide.

Half-time:  Marske United 1 v 5 Dunston UTS

The second half saw Marske play with the wind in their favour, and they had plenty of possession in the opening minutes of the half without testing Connell in the Dunston goal.

The first real chance of the second half fell to Dunston but Macca saved well before the referee’s assistant’s offside flag saved Marske.

After 20 minutes of the second half, Burto made a second change with John Seaton replacing Derek Bradley.   Seaton had a chance to make it 5-2 in the 74th minute but after making space to shoot his shot sailed high and wide. 

Charlton and Burton then both had chances but again were unable to test Connell.

On 82 minutes Hume scored his fourth and Dunston’s sixth of the night with a superb turn and shot from the edge of the box that gave McDonald no chance. 

Marske had the final word when, on 88 minutes, Charlton made the final score Marske 2 Dunston 6 – a record league home defeat since joining the Northern League in 1997.

Full-time:  Marske United 2 v 6 Dunston UTS

Overall, a mad 25 minutes at the end of the first half cost Marske dear.  Defensively all of the first half goals were poor goals to concede and all of them came from set pieces.

Credit must go to Dunston who were fit and fast, and had the games outstanding players in McAndrew and Hume. 

The last three league games have been against teams who will almost certainly all finish in the top six in the league this season, and all three gave a real indication of the gulf in class between Division 1 and 2.  Next up is the double header with Penrith where Marske will be looking for a minimum of 4 points.

Teams:

Marske United: McDonald, Donachie, Gamble, Gell, Wheatley, Roberts, Bradley (Seaton), Cochrane (J.Burton), Brunskill, McGill, Charlton.  Not Used: Taylor, Robson, Skelton.

Dunston UTS: Connell, Pickering (Robson), Galbraith, Cattanach, Swailes, Shaw, Brooking (Craggs), Herron, Hume, Preen (Burns), McAndrew.  Not Used: Clark

Referee:  Warren Broadbent (Sunderland)