The Y&E fell to a 1-0 defeat against Newcastle Blue Star on Saturday afternoon. Despite the loss, the result sees the Y&E remain in 6th place in the league following an impressive start to life in Division One.

There were a few changes to the starting line-up, with Proc and Ethan Jones returning to the squad. Dan Jones and Sam Conway were both unavailable and made way for the returning defensive duo. Marshy moved back up behind Tom, and with Mikey Roberts unavailable, Bubba returned to the starting XI. Tom was also back in for Harry Williams. On the bench, there was a debut for Jaydon Pinnegar, who signed on a dual registration from Stockton Town.

Early on, the visitors enjoyed more of the play, testing Callum with a couple of early chances that he gathered comfortably. A few heavy challenges went in from both sides without being penalised by the officials, leaving both sets of players and fans questioning some of the decisions.

The opening goal arrived in the 17th minute. With Ethan Jones struggling with an injury, Blue Star played the ball down their left wing. Their number 10, Jakub Zych, broke clear, cut inside, and placed his effort past Callum and in off the post to make it 1-0. Straight after the goal, Ethan was subbed off and replaced by Jaydon Pinnegar, with Marshy moving into central defence.

Blue Star were the better team in the first half and seemed to get the rub of the green with the referee’s decisions. Marshy was booked for a high foot, which was followed by a tussle in our box from the resulting free-kick, though nothing was given when one of our players went down.

We forced the Blue Star keeper into a save in the 42nd minute when Ste Roberts launched a superb strike from distance. However, just before half-time, Jaydon was shown a red card. Going in for a 50/50 challenge, he mistimed his tackle slightly, sending a Blue Star player to the ground. This sparked remonstration from the Blue Star squad, including their goalkeeper, who ran half the length of the pitch to get involved in the discussion and was booked for his troubles. The Blue Star player was unhurt and able to play on.

We went into half-time 1-0 down and down to ten men after a stop-start opening 45 minutes where we were second best. The message from the management team at the break was clear: come out and work hard in the second half.

We started the second half on the front foot. Ste Roberts floated a lovely cross into the box, which was met by Charlie Fixter, but his header went over before the assistant referee flagged for offside. Shortly after, Tom broke through and was fouled, but no card was shown. The resulting free-kick whistled just wide.

Blue Star then had strong penalty appeals waved away after Dan McWilliams misjudged a header back to Callum. The referee consulted with his assistant on the far side, and for a moment a penalty looked likely, but thankfully for the Y&E, play was waved on.

We maintained the pressure, delivering a much stronger performance than in the first half as the better team. Tom had a couple of half-chances, but the ball just wouldn’t fall for us. Jacko made several substitutions, bringing Reece on for Josh Larkin. Reece’s pace caused immediate problems, with one of his crosses nearly finding Tom in the box.

The game grew stretched as we pushed for an equaliser, keeping the pressure on throughout the final 20 minutes. Marshy produced a barnstorming 80-yard run down the left before his cross was cleared for a corner. Acting almost like a rugby full-back, Marshy repeatedly broke up Blue Star counter-attacks, winning the ball when they broke three-on-one to kickstart fresh attacks for the Y&E.

Blue Star defended resolutely, blocking and heading away our crosses. We kept pushing until the final whistle, but the breakthrough never came, leaving the visitors to celebrate holding onto all three points.

A spirited second-half display wasn’t quite enough on this occasion, but the lads put in a fantastic shift after the break and did themselves proud.

Credit to Blue Star, who got the early goal and proved tough to break down. We wish them the best of luck until we meet again in the league in early February.

Man of the Match: Selected by match sponsor David Knowles, the award went to Ste Roberts, who continued his fine start to the season. At the back, Marshy was superb once again, while Charlie Fixter had another strong game in central midfield.

Next Up: We travel to Tyneside to face Whickham on Tuesday evening. It would be great to see plenty of Y&E support making the journey!