An exciting National League North affair at The Brewery Field saw Moors held to a draw against South Shields on Boxing Day.

Moors opened the scoring early on when this season’s leading scorer, Isaac Fletcher, found the bottom corner, but former loanee Tom Allan prodded past Brad James to level the score.

Graeme Lee’s men began the game well, asking questions of the visiting backline and forcing set pieces from the off. Fletcher almost capitalised from a corner kick, but his glancing header flashed just wide of the post.

The pressure continued, as some strong football down the right almost saw Moors take the lead. Olly Dyson’s low ball into the 18-yard box found Rob Ramshaw, whose flick on trickled across the face of goal, unable to be tapped home.

The visitors enjoyed plenty of possession as the first half developed, but just couldn’t break down Moors’ defence. Their best attempt came from a cross that was picked out well by Brad James.

Moors were not put off by their lack of possession, however, and continued to carve out chances. Glen Taylor fired high and wide from an impossible angle, before Corey McKeown and Fletcher both saw attempts from close range fail to hit the back of the net.

It was Fletcher who finally broke the deadlock, bringing up his already impressive goal tally for the season to 11 in the league. A smart dummy run from Reece Staunton allowed Fletcher into space on the edge of the box. He wriggled his way into the penalty area from the left and slotted a curling effort into the bottom right-hand corner, giving keeper Myles Boney no chance.

Elliott Dickman’s visitors didn’t wait long to respond, with their equaliser coming just eight minutes after Fletcher’s opener. A long ball into the box beat Dyson, giving Allan the space to drive at James. The Moors keeper lost his footing and that allowed the former Moors man to prod home the leveller and send the 280 away fans into raptures.

Moors looked to regain the lead before half time, with Fletcher and Matty Dolan coming close, but unable to find another goal, bringing an end to the opening 45.

The second half began with much of the same, with Moors coming out strong. Fletcher looked to add another to his tally after breaking free in behind the defence. However, he was seemingly brought down just before he could get his shot away, with strong calls for a Moors penalty, though nothing was given.

Shields seemed to get a foothold into the game the more the half progressed, with James being called into action to paw a cross away from danger.

Both Moors and Shields looked to steal ahead, with chances for both teams coming thick and fast. Dyson’s floated ball into the centre of the penalty area was met by Ramshaw, whose headed effort flew just wide of the mark.

The Mariners continued to work to gain an advantage, with their closest attempt of the game coming from former Moors man Paul Blackett. His volleyed effort from the edge of the box looked certain to find the top corner, before it was brilliantly tipped onto the bar and over by James, who until this point, hadn’t really had all that much to do.

Moors saw chances come and go after that, with Fletcher’s effort from the left-hand side smashing wide after good work from Taylor and Ramshaw, while Dolan’s long-range strike was comfortably fielded by Boney.

Graeme Lee looked to add to his attacking options by bringing on some fresh legs in the form of Gateshead loanee Aiden Rutledge and Junior Mondal, hoping that they would be able to find the winner in the latter stages.

However, it was Dickman’s side that ended the game the strongest, with Allan causing trouble down the flank. Lucas Da Bolle almost found a key to open the door in injury time but, luckily for Moors, substitute David Carson just couldn’t latch on to his cross at the back post.

A decent point at home against an opposition who had lost just once in the last six games, scoring 20 goals in the process. Focus now turns to New Year’s Day, where Moors kick off 2025 on the road at Scarborough Athletic.

Full Time: Moors 1 South Shields 1

Moors: James, Dyson, Ledger, Beals, Staunton, Shrimpton, Dolan, McKeown (Mondal 76), Ramshaw, Fletcher, Taylor (Rutledge 81)
Subs not used: Johnson, McGinley

Booked: Fletcher (73), Shrimpton (79)

South Shields: Boney, Hughes, Morse, Briggs, Sheperd, Smith (Crossley 76), Jenkins (Carson 14), Mee, Allan, De Bolle, Blackett
Subs not used: Bramwell, Seymour, Taylor

Booked: Da Bolle (45+1).

Referee: David Holmes

Attendance: 1,624 (280 South Shields)

Match Report: Noah Betts