Nine-man Dunston held on for a valuable point on the road at North Shields to extend their unbeaten run to nine games. In what was a feisty and heated game, North Shields opened the scoring after 19 minutes through Dan Wilson.

Dunston fought valiantly in the second half and were rewarded as Sado Djalo scrambled the ball over the line from a Jack Elliott cross to level the game up on 73 minutes. Tempers would continue to flare as Dunston were reduced to nine men as Djalo and Carl Finnigan were both given their marching orders. Ultimately, after a backs against the wall performance, Dunston battled to hard-earned draw.

On a night where the wind certainly played its part in dictating the game, The Robins appeared to settle into the contest a lot sooner than Dunston. Finnigan and Djalo were both shown early yellow cards inside the opening 8 minutes as the visitors struggled to grab a foothold in the game.

The first real opportunity of the evening turned out to be the opening goal as Dan Wilson put the hosts 1-0 up after 19 minutes on his 200th appearance for the club. It was a long-range effort from JJ Chrisp that cannoned off the crossbar and the ball fell to the feet of Wilson. The clinical striker made no mistake as he placed the ball into the back of the net from close range.

Two minutes later, Dunston almost found an equaliser. Terry Galbraith’s free kick fizzed through the wall and forced a save from Finn Hodgson. From the free kick, the ball was swung back into the box however, Djalo’s effort on goal was scooped over the bar and out for a goal kick.

After a weary start to the game, Dunston did begin to settle as the half progressed and Ursene Mouanda had a half-chance from distance after 34 minutes. The midfielder drove forwards with the ball and unleashed a stinging shot from 25-yards out, but it was wide of the target.

Into the second half and the hosts were the first side to come close to the next goal as Dan Staples was forced into action. Paul Van-Zandvliet fired a shot towards goal from a tight angle, but Staples was there to produce the save.

Shields continued to apply the pressure and Dan Wilson came close to getting his second goal of the match with 20 minutes to play. After beating the offside trap, the forward managed to go around Staples but couldn’t find the target as his low shot trickled inches wide of the post.

Dunston punished Shield’s for their missed opportunities as Sado Djalo levelled the game up with 73 minutes on the clock. Substitute Jack Elliott was causing all kinds of problems down the left after his introduction, and he crossed a sublime ball into the box. From the cross, Djalo was able to head the ball off the underside of the crossbar and the ball was bundled home to give Dunston a route back into the game.

On 77 minutes, just moments after equalising for Dunston, Sado Djalo was shown a second yellow card forcing Dunston down to 10 men. Djalo attempted to win the ball in 50/50 challenge however, he caught his man and picked up the red card.

Things went from bad to worse as Carl Finnigan was shown a red card 3 minutes later. After some pushing and shoving from both sets of players, Finnigan was shown the red card in the aftermath. Shields’ coach Anthony Woodhouse was also shown a red card for protesting.

To pick up anything from the game, Dunston would have to dig deep and withstand a boatload of pressure from the hosts as the ball was pumped forward at every possible moment.

With 85 minutes played, Chris McDonald forced a save from Dan Staples as the Dunston shot-stopper stood firm. Minutes later, Terry Galbraith was there to clear the ball off the line as the pressure continued to mount.

In the dying seconds of the game, Dunston came ever so close to a snatching the win, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Jack Elliott once again burst down the left-hand side and drove towards goal before firing a shot towards the near post however, Hodgson was able to palm the ball away as the spoils were shared at The Daren Persson Stadium.

Next up, Dunston welcome Brighouse Town to The UTS Stadium on Saturday as we look to make it 10 games unbeaten.