Seaton Carew Seniors vs Durham United
Saturday 2nd November 2024
The Alan Hood Charity Cup
Written by George Vardon
On a typically very chilly Saturday morning, on the first Saturday of November, Durham United headed away to play Seaton Carew Seniors in the first round of the Alan Hood Charity Cup.
Seaton Carew are a familiar opposition for Durham United, having beaten them just two weeks ago, with a strong side consisting of Durham first team players. For this cup game however, it was a mixture of second and third team players who would play, and we knew it was going to be a tough game to get through.
We arrived at Hornby Park with a cold, coastal breeze filling the air, and began preparing for the game, which included receiving the newly sponsored "Saints" kit, to everyones amusement.
It was around about then that we realised that we had come to the game and had no Durham United socks and, with about forty-five minutes until kick off, realised it was too late to return to Durham to collect it. Allegedly, this was a combination of Sacha and Ryan’s fault but, luckily, Ryan was keen to make amends, as he took Ellis along with him for a trip to Sports Direct.
However, having bought socks in the colour of the home team, they returned to the shops to try again. Eventually, suitable socks were purchased in time for kick-off and, after a thorough warm-up, the game began.
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Durham played with five at the back, two in midfield, and then three attackers up top in order to provide some defensive stability alongside some attacking threat up top.
As we expected, Seaton Carew began the game physically and competed hard for every second ball but in terms of physicality Durham matched them, if not exceeded them, all whilst slowly building into the game and playing out from the back.
Durham saw plenty of the ball with Seaton quite happy in the initial phases to sit off, giving the centre backs plenty of time which made it difficult to break them down. However, a few good longer balls were effective at troubling their defence and, as the game continued, Durham found themselves with more space in the middle, allowing Adam and Zane to get involved to create more chances particularly down the flanks.
The pressure continued to build with Durham hitting the post before a good cross from the wings into the box saw a Seaton Carew defender mis-hit their clearance.
The ball then bounced up awkwardly for Zane but he managed to strike it cleanly on his weaker, left foot into the bottom left corner. It was a huge goal that gave Durham more comfort in the game as we knew Seaton would have to stretch themselves a bit more as they went after the game.
The remaining ten minutes of the first half were rather even with no major chances being created. We went into half-time happy with the scoreline but knew we needed to stay switched on.
Half-Time: Seaton Carew Seniors 0 - 1 Durham United
The second half was quite different to the first half with Seaton Carew having the majority of the ball and threatening Durham with an equaliser. However, whilst throughout the half they dominated possession, the Durham defence stood strong and they failed to really create any clear cut chances in order to equalise.
The three man defence lead by Durham’s captain, Nicolai - on his return from injury - Max, and George, won their aerial battles effectively, including via zonal marking at corners and were complimented by the whole team in maintaining a very strong defensive shape throughout which required a lot of concentration.
The rolling subs during the game helped with fatigue, allowing the wingers of Tom, Ethan, Ben and Caine to maintain high energy levels in order to press as they were rotated throughout the game. The final five or ten minutes was an onslaught of Seaton Carew attacks but, yet again, Durham managed to keep the clean sheet and managed the game expertly.
It was a tough and hard fought victory in the cup but the main thing is that Durham managed to get the win and continue into the next round, and could properly enjoy their post match curry, complimentary of our hosts.
Player of the Match went to Vardon for a solid defensive showing alongside the whole backline against a stubborn Seaton side.
Full-Time: Seaton Carew Seniors 0 - 1 Durham United
Player of the Match: George Vardon
Line-Up: Marko Porozovs; Nicolai Lewis; Ryan Cook; Freddy Alcock; Max Nissim; George Vardon; Ethan Woodcock; Zane Liles; Sacha Lee; Adam Browne; Ben Crew
Substitutes: Caine McCartney; Tom Boothroyd; Paddy Harvery; Sam Checketts
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Edited by George Gompertz
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