Witton face the long trip to the North-East on Tuesday night, when they travel to title-chasing South Shields in a re arranged Northern Premier League Premier Division fixture.
The Mariners currently sit in second place in the table and have won their last three games, the last being a 2-1 success at Warrington Town on Saturday in new manager and former Sunderland striker Kevin Phillips first game in charge.
The departure of Graham Fenton must have come as a bit of a surprise to supporters of other clubs, particularly as it came after a 2-0 win but then these things happen in football.
Witton go into the game on the back of successive defeats at the hands of leaders Matlock Town and then to a late goal at fellow strugglers Mickleover FC last weekend. Yet they can take positives from both games and probably deserved something from them.
South Shields have suffered three home defeats this season to Buxton, Basford United and Hyde United respectively whilst Albion have managed two away wins from ten league games.
The Mariners came out on top in the reverse fixture at the U Lock It Stadium earlier in the campaign, winning by the only goal although Albion put in a decent performance on that occasion.
Ironically, the fixture falls on the same date that Witton went to South Shields two years ago, and on that occasion we came away with all three points courtesy of two late goals from Kyle Sambor and MJ Monaghan. What we’d give for a similar result this time round.
Witton have added to their squad in recent days with the signing of forward Jesse Dowling, on a dual registration from AFC Liverpool and he will add competition for places and hopefully, goals to our attack.
A tough fixture ahead for the lads but they are more than capable of coming away with something and they’ll be giving it everything.
Kick off at 1st Cloud Arena is 7.45pm.
SOUTH SHIELDS FC,
1ST CLOUD ARENA,
SHAFTESBURY AVENUE,
SOUTH SHIELDS,
SOUTH TYNESIDE,
NE32 3UP.
Directions: From A556. Merge onto M56 and follow for 5.4 miles. Keep right at the fork to stay on M56, follow signs for A5103/City Centre/M60 N & W/M62 W/M61. After 0.8 miles, continue onto Princess Parkway/A5103. For 0.7 miles. Merge onto M60 via the slip road to Ring Road (W & N)/Liverpool/Bolton/Leeds/M61/M62 and follow for 15.0 miles. Keep right to continue on M62 and follow for 27.2 miles. Keep right at the fork to stay on M62 and continue for 4.1 miles. Keep right at the fork to stay on M62 for 5.8 miles. At junction 29, take the M1 North exit to M621/Leeds and follow for 0.9 miles. Merge onto M1 and follow for 0.7 miles. Keep left at the fork to stay on M1, follow signs for Leeds(East) continue for 10.5 miles. Merge onto A1(M) and follow for 50.9 miles. Keep right at the fork to stay on A1(M) and follow for 30.7 miles. Keep right at the fork to continue on A194(M), follow signs for South Shields for 3.7 miles. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto Leam Lane/A194 and continue for 0.6 miles. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit and stay on Leam Lane/A194 follow for 1.6 miles. At the roundabout, take the 3rd exit and stay on Leam Lane/A194 follow for 0.3 miles. At the roundabout, take the 2nd exit onto Hadrian Road/A194. Continue to follow A194 for 0.3 miles. Turn left onto Shaftesbury Avenue. Football stadium on the right after 0.4 miles. (Total Distance - 170.7 miles).
Parking: Car parking is available on Shaftesbury Avenue, as well as the overflow car park at the nearby Barbour store.
Admission Prices: Adults £10, Over 65’s/Disabled/Students £8, Under 16’s £3. Tickets can be purchased online ahead of the game via the South Shields website at: https://bookings.southshieldsfc.co.uk
Admission will also be available by way of cash payments at the turnstiles.
Matchday Programme: £2.
Social Club: The Social Club is a two-storey building with two function rooms on the top floor and a balcony over-looking the pitch. Happy Hour between 5.30pm - 7pm.
Refreshments: Located on the ground floor of the Social Club building.