After bouncing back from a cup exit with an 8-1 win, United were back in league action as they welcomed Shotton Colliery to Maiden Castle. With the visitors having won just once so far this season, this looked like a good opportunity to build a winning run but, with a new manager leading the visitors, there was no time for complacency.
Yet again, United sent out a much-changed XI for their return to the league as Harry Archer, Freddy Alcock, Freddie Merrett, Charlie Bramwell, and Chris Seery all returned to the starting line-up.
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United started brightly yet again and went ahead after only five minutes. Fred Walton, Charlie Bramwell, and Alex Dinan escaped a densely packed midfield with some intuitive one-touch passing and dropped the ball off to Freddy Alcock who was in space.
He got his head up and slid a wonderful ball down the line for Walton, who beat his defender with a change of pace and did well to cross it in before the ball went out. Via the head of a defender and, afterwards, the head of Chris Seery, the ball dropped loose at the back post. Bramwell, arriving late, latched onto it and rifled it into the roof of the net to mark his first goal for the club.
For the next 10 minutes, United attacked down the left, where Seery was making light work of getting in behind.
Seery sent his defender to the shops (proverbially speaking, of course) with a massive body feint in midfield. He then drove to the by-line and hit a cross into Rory Edwards who controlled it but, with his back to goal, didn’t have an angle to shoot.
That was no problem for the United midfielder, however, as he took two defenders out of the game with a perfectly performed roulette, but his shot could only find the post.
Edwards hits the post
Seery tried again down the left-hand side and, yet again, found himself in a crossing position after a slight tussle in the corner. He found Edwards, who offloaded it to Walton, but he found the goalkeeper from 12 yards out.
15 minutes in and United decided to attack down the right-hand side again; Rory Edwards was given acres of space in midfield and played an inch-perfect defence-splitting pass, which Walton ran on to. He took one touch into the box and a second to play it across the face of goal, where Phil Kay was inches away from turning it into the net.
After the goal, Durham continued to have plenty of attacking possession, but it wasn’t until the 30th minute that they carved out a proper sight at goal. As Seery, combined with O’Neill, turned the ball over on the edge of the United box, it took three passes, via Bramwell and Seery, before Phil Kay was through on goal.
Kay went round the outside, then chopped back in and, from 6 yards out, saw his shot saved brilliantly. The next time he found himself in the box - 10 minutes later - the outcome was slightly different…
Edwards hooked the ball away from the corner and Kay won the loose ball himself. From here - 25 yards inside his own half - he ran with the ball and, after elegantly skipping away from two defenders, finished past the keeper with a calm confidence.
As the players ran over to the corner to celebrate, Edwards said, in a surprised, but delighted, tone, “Hahah, that’s my assist! Cheers mate!”. He then walked over to the camera, gave a fist-pump, and embodied the phrase that ‘there are no replays on the score-sheet’.
HALF-TIME: DURHAM UNITED 2-0 SHOTTON COLLIERY FC
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At half-time, United may well have felt that, for all the attacking possession they had, they should have been more than two goals to the good. Well, those reservations would have been long forgotten at the full-time whistle.
Just three minutes into the second half, United had further extended their lead. Kay played a brilliantly disguised pass into the path of Seery who played a one-two with Bramwell and, from 6 yards out, had a shot at goal.
This was saved smartly by the Shotton stopper, but the follow-up - a scuffed left-footed bumper into the ground - tantalisingly bounced over him. Like Edwards, I imagine Seery is now a part of the ‘there are no replays on the scoresheet’ fan club.
It would be disingenuous to the England captain to compare Seery’s little hop and fist-bump to the trademark celebration of Harry Kane; perhaps a Kane imitation with a change of heart mid-way through is a more accurate description.
Seery's first shot is saved; he scored the rebound for his first goal of the season
Seery and Challinor celebrate
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20 minutes later and, having played a sumptuous left-footed pass not too long before, Walton was back in the game. Bramwell turned the ball over in and popped it off to Walton, on the halfway line. With nothing but green grass ahead of him (well, green plastic, I guess), Walton ran through on goal and finished calmly.
He ran away and let out a fist-pump of emotion for a goal which has, no doubt, boosted his confidence even more. Having scored his first open-play goal of the season, he joked after the match that he “didn’t know he was capable of that”.
It was a goal so nice, he scored it twice; a matter of moments later, he’d replicated his first goal almost identically. Walton doesn't need replays on the scoresheets; he does replays in real life...
Five minutes later, Phil Kay scored the pick of the bunch. Picking up a loose ball about 25 yards from goal, he chucked in a couple of stepovers, dinked inside and, from 16 yards out, bent it beautifully into the top corner. His lack of celebration suggests that this is a regular occurrence. I look forward to plenty more similar goals over the course of the season, in that case…
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Edwards was fouled on the touchline, 35 yards from goal, and took the free-kick himself. The cross was perfectly placed into the 6-yard box for Morgan Lant to head it across goal to an unmarked Freddie Merrett. The captain popped it in from 2 yards out amid silence and didn’t start celebrating until he saw the assistant’s flag remain by his side.
The crowd, too, were silent for a couple of seconds before they started cheering, perhaps unsure if Merrett was on-side, or perhaps unsure if their eyes were deceiving them. But, they weren’t, Merrett really had scored and, judging by his exuberant double celebration, I’m not sure he plans on scoring again any time soon.
The final goal of the day was worth waiting for, as the two Bens - Crew and Pearson - combined. Bramwell played it wide to Crew who - high on confidence following his 4 goals in the week prior - threw in his textbook stepover before delivering into the box.
Pearson timed his run perfectly and simply poked it beyond the keeper, to bring his tally to two goals in two games so far this season.
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In a completely dominant performance, any one of the XI would be a worthy recipient of ‘Player of the Match’. Chris Seery was exceptional throughout, causing problems down the left-hand side whenever he got the ball; now he has his first goal of the season, I’m sure many more will follow.
Phil Kay was also brilliant, scoring two goals, one of which was a dribble from his own half, and another was curled into the top corner. The midfield trio of Bramwell, Edwards, and Dinan were also fantastic and they completely dominated that area of the pitch. Controlling the tempo of the game and the ability to decide when to settle on the ball and when to advance it will be a big factor this year.
Finally, after glimpses of quality in all his performances this season, this was the match where Fred Walton put it all together. When he comes deeper to receive the ball, he is a menace with his back to goal and his ability to beat his man on the spin is dangerous for opposition defences.
His awareness to run in behind is fantastic, and he was a nightmare for the opposition defender; he’s also shown precision with his final ball in these positions. Adding goals from open play was the last thing for him to tick off and, now he’s opened his account, I’m sure he’ll continue to kick-on from here (pun somewhat intended).
Walton scores his first goal of the evening
United have now won two on the bounce - scoring 8 goals in both - and face a quick turnaround before their match on Saturday against Bishop Auckland FC Reserves. With their opposition bottom of the table, United will be eyeing this as an opportunity to keep the wins - and the goals - coming.
FULL-TIME: DURHAM UNITED 8-0 SHOTTON COLLIERY
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Player of the Match: Fred Walton
Line-Up: Harry Archer; Freddy Alcock; Ossie O’Neill; Ellis Challinor; Freddie Merrett; Alex Dinan; Fred Walton; Charlie Bramwell; Phil Kay; Rory Edwards; Chris Seery
Substitutes: Patrick Dixon; Morgan Lant; Adam Browne; Ben Pearson; Ben Crew
Written by George Gompertz
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