Paul Blackett issues Spennymoor Town warning ahead of South Shields return
South Shields striker Paul Blackett looks ahead to facing his former club Spennymoor Town - full story in Tuesday’s Shields Gazette.
South Shields FC striker Paul Blackett has warned his team-mates of the challenge they will face when they take on his former club Spennymoor Town tonight (7:45pm kick-off).
Blackett has forged a fierce reputation as one of the National League North’s most prolific frontmen after joining the Mariners from Spenny during the summer of 2023 by plundering his way to 87 goals in just 142 league appearances.
Tuesday’s North East clash will see Blackett go head-to-head with another of non-league’s most notorious strikers as the Mariners look to contain Moors legend Glen Taylor when the two sides meet at Brewery Field. Shields moved up to fourth in the table with a 3-1 win over Chester on Saturday while Spennymoor remain bottom of the table following a 3-0 defeat to local rivals Darlington.
Despite their hosts’ lowly league position after a slow start to the season, Blackett insisted the Moors possess ‘real quality’ and can not be underestimated.
He told The Gazette: “Going to Spennymoor is always tough - but every game in this division this season is tough. I don’t think we have gone into a game this season thinking anything other than it will be tough because there is real quality throughout the division and every single team provides different challenges. Spenny have so much quality, they’ll be right up for it and it’s going to be a challenge. But we will be up for it, we know where we have to improve and we will look to do that at their place.”
Although there is no historic rivalry between the Mariners and the Moors, the fact there have been so many connections between the two clubs in recent seasons means there is a lot riding on Tuesday night’s game.
With Hebburn Town and Darlington also providing further North East influence in non-league’s second tier, Blackett admitted the battle for local bragging rights means meetings between all four clubs are starting to have more riding on them.
He said: “They are proper derby games, there is local pride here and although some of those games don’t have fierce rivalries, you have those bragging rights on offer.
"Most players know each other and you want to beat them because of that. It’s always nice and that’s what we are aiming to do on Tuesday night."