Brian Smith lauds ‘class’ North Shields after long-awaited League Cup final win

North Shields manager Brian Smith reflected on a ‘class finish to the season’ after his side saw off Newcastle Blue Star to claim the Brooks Mileson Northern League Cup for the first time in over half a century.

The Robins recovered from losing experienced left-back Blair Adams less than an hour before kick-off by producing a calm, composed and controlled display that allowed them to claim what would become a comfortable win at Hillheads, home of North Tyneside rivals Whitley Bay.

There were just 12 minutes on the clock when on-loan Gateshead youngster Adam Doyle opened the scoring with a cool finish, rounding Blue Star goalkeeper Dan Lister before firing into the empty net from a narrow angle. Former Blue Star forward Nelson Ogbewe doubled the tally just before the midway point of the first-half before Jordan Lashley took Smith’s side out of sight six minutes after the restart.

‘Proper performance’

North Shields lifted the Northern League Cup for the first time in 54 years (photo North Shields)

That was enough to ensure the Robins got their hands on the Northern League Cup for the first time since 1972 – and allowed their manager to reflect on a nerveless display from his players.

He told The NLP: “It was a class finish to the season and I thought we were excellent and ruthless throughout the game. There weren’t any nerves from our lads, our big players showed up and led brilliantly.

“We had a little bit of disappointment in the buildup to the game because Blair Adams was ruled out in the warm-up – but Reece Wanless has come in after being injured and was superb for us. It was a proper performance and I am just so happy we have finished the season like this.”

Levels

North Shields celebrate after their Northern League Cup final win (photo North Shields FC)

The win also means the Robins have taken another step away from the troubling situation that put them at risk of going out of business midway through the 2023/24 season. Smith and assistants Andy Bowman and Steve Cuggy all returned to the club and with the help of a new-look committee started the process of getting the club on a more sustainable path.

Smith believes the club he has become synonymous with are now ‘in a different world’ and revealed planning is already underway for next season as they look to build on the momentum of their cup final win.

“Seeing all of the young lads celebrating with the players, it just makes it all worth it,” he explained. “It’s been a great ten months and when I look back to where the club was when we came in, we had a lot of help. If it wasn’t for South Shields, we would have struggled because they loaned us a lot of players because of our relationship with Lee Picton. Without that we would have struggled but it is all coming together now.

“When you look at where we were then to where we are now, it’s a totally different world. We need to get a couple of players in now during the summer just to strengthen and then it’s down to the lads who were excellent tonight to raise their levels too.”