Blue Star boss hails match-winner Burke after historic FA Cup win

Newcastle Blue Star manager Marc Nash praised youngster Leon Burke after his late goal helped his side to a surprise FA Cup first qualifying round win against Northern Premier League East Division club Heaton Stannington.

The meeting of two of Tyneside’s black and whites was touted as one of the ties of the round across the North East as Northern League side Blue Star aimed to secure a spot in the second qualifying round for the first time.

In reality, for the large part of a tight and nervy 90 minutes, the tie failed to reach its pre-match billing as both sides struggled to find any rhythm and chances were few and far-between.

However, the introduction of a number of Blue Star youngsters did inject some energy into the contest and one of them landed the decisive blow inside the final minutes of an otherwise surprisingly low-key affair.

Just 60 seconds after firing narrowly wide with an angled drive from around ten yards, attacking midfielder Burke found himself in a similar position and made no mistake as he beat Stan goalkeeper Lewis Brass at his near post.

That was enough to secure the win for Blue Star and left manager Nash to praise the man that earned his side a spot in Monday’s second qualifying round draw.

He told The NLP: “Leon will never hide and the funny thing is I took a 17-year-old off at half-time and I’ve brought an 18-year-old on.

“Leon has a strong mentality, he will never shy away, he just keeps coming back. We had a chat with him because he played well in midweek and I said Dan Wilson was going back in so asked him to make sure he is ready.

“I said he needed to start getting goals into his game and he’s certainly done that today.”

All eyes are now on Monday’s second qualifying round draw – but for Nash, there is just one simple wish.

He said: “I’ve not even thought about that just yet – but we would love to be back here again in the next round for our fans. The club can host the big events like this and we want another one.”