Pickering Town (U18s) 2-2 Newcastle Benfield (U18s)

Pickering Town (U18s) 2-2 Newcastle Benfield (U18s)

FA Youth Cup Extra Preliminary Round

Wednesday 16th August 2023

A midweek trip to Pickering Town (and the sloping pitch), the start of the FA Youth Cup journey for this season, Rio Stuttard's spectacular strike to open the scoring, an injury-time equaliser and then a tense penalty shoot-out where Jay Shah emerged as the hero!

It’s fair to say this game was pretty entertaining as the Pikes progressed into the next round at the expense of Newcastle Benfield who never gave up all night, fought back from 2-0 down and were unlucky themselves not to get through.

At first team level, it’s been a frustrating time for Pickering fans of late because their team haven’t yet scored in 360 minutes this season, but those fans who popped along to the Recreation Ground to see this game were treated to what can only be described as a complete beauty of an opening goa.!

Pickering set the tone from early on yet still locked at 0-0 after 20 minutes, there didn’t initially appear to be much danger when Stuttard (and not 'Stoddard' as the team-sheet said) picked up possession about 25 yards out but he looked up and unleashed a sizzler which seemed destined for the net from the moment it left his foot. It duly went in! What a hit son! And a moment which brought smiles to the faces of the home fans who’ve been starved of that kinda thing recently.

At the other end, Jay Shah made the first of a few decent saves as the visitors pressed forward before the break; Callan Stocks (No.3) with his ability to glide forward, and Rhys Common (No.10) with his footwork and nimble threat, both looked dangerous at times for Newcastle and caused the Pickering defence problems, and Shah then made another save soon after half-time; this time using his feet, to ensure his team remained ahead.

But then just past the hour mark, up popped George Birley (one of the best players on the pitch) who made it 2-0 when he was put through into a one-on-one and slotted the ball between the ‘keeper’s legs and into the back of the net before sprinting towards the corner flag where he was quickly mobbed by his jubilant team-mates who knew victory was now very much within their grasp.

That second goal really rubber-stamped Pickering’s advantage and if they’d got the next goal and made it 3-0, it would have killed the tie and been ‘Goodnight Vienna’ for Newcastle Benfield’s hopes of a comeback.

Still, the prospect of a penalty shoot-out seemed a million miles away from anyone’s thoughts at this point but Newcastle didn’t give up - they couldn’t be faulted for their effort and having started to come into the game - inspired by Tom Armstrong (the lively Newcastle No.7), he soon got his team right back in the tie when he drilled the ball home from what looked like a tight angle (difficult to tell properly as I was stood at the other end but a good finish in any case) to halve the deficit and give his team-mates belief with about 15 minutes to go.

Such was the effort, endeavour and commitment from every player, there were a few tired legs by now and although it seemed Pickering might hold out as Jay Shah pulled off a few more decent saves and the lads in yellow stifled things to try and run down the clock (always love seeing that aspect of football), they couldn’t quite hold out because in injury-time the visitors popped up with a dramatic equaliser to force a penalty shoot-out.

Newcastle’s ‘keeper took some ‘pelters’ from the home fans during the second half; fair play to him for handling the banter in good grace with a smile and giving a bit back (love that), Pickering’s ‘keeper had pulled off some good saves and now one of them was about to become the hero under the floodlights!

And it turned out to be Jay Shah because after diving to his left and palming the ball over the upright with his wrist from Newcastle’s second spot-kick, he also saved the third effort too. Pickering converted all four of their kicks with Will Stokoe bagging the vital one to win the shoot-out by a 4-2 scoreline, and they now progress into the next round and a trip to either Stockton Town or Penrith.

Overall, the effort of both teams couldn’t be faulted and they played their part in an entertaining match so everyone can go away with their heads held high. Rio Stuttard will remember his goal for a while to come (as will the Pickering fans who saw it because it genuinely was the type of strike that wins awards), George Birley showed glimpses of what he’s about, took his goal well and had a really good game and Jay Shah’s contribution was massive and he deserves all the plaudits he’ll receive in the aftermath.

Apologies if I've got anything wrong in the report - tried my best with a bunch of unfamiliar players who I've not seen before and tried to get everyone's full (and correct) names via a mixture of the team sheet, the Tweets the club put out and the stuff on the Facebook page.

I may pop up at Pickering’s first team game at Campion tomorrow night as the club have just signed Cole Roberts who is one of the best players I’ve seen in the North-East Youth Alliance over the past few years. He made his debut against Frickley on Tuesday, has a quality left foot, a great end product and is a top class, down-to-earth lad who I’ll always back to the hilt. 

Once he finds his confidence and gets into his groove, he’ll absolutely fly - and that might just mean Pickering’s fans are celebrating a few more goals in the weeks ahead as they look to begin the climb up the NCEL (Premier Division).