South Shields new signing Martyn Coleman is ready for take off

The striker – who has scored 21 goals so far this season – was denied a debut for his new club when Shields’ game against Brandon United was postponed 15 minutes before kick-off on Saturday.

However, the 27-year-old was able to meet his new team-mates, and trained with them for the first time.

Coleman, from Penrith, is making a big commitment by moving to Shields, but insists the long journey to games will be worth it.

He said: “I’ve seen a lot on Twitter and Facebook about the club. I’ve seen everything that has been going on, and it just seems to be taking off.

“When the call came in, I thought it was worth making the travelling sacrifice for and I wanted to get involved.

“There are plenty of teams in the North East I could have played for, but I just love how ambitious this club is. The crowds and support they get is fantastic.

“I’ve seen and heard it happening from afar, and I just thought I wanted to be a part of it.

“When the opportunity came, I had a long think about it, because obviously the travelling is a big commitment, but I thought I’d go for it.”

Coleman, who is also formerly of Workington and Celtic Nation, is hoping to make his debut for Shields in tomorrow’s Ernest Armstrong Memorial Cup tie against Hebburn Town at Mariners Park.

He added: “I spoke to (manager) Jon King last week and I liked everything that he said and everything that was happening with the club.

“I can’t wait to get stuck in now. It was a disappointment on Saturday for the game to be postponed, but hopefully we’ll get a game tomorrow.

“I’ve never had that before, when the game has been called off so close to kick-off, but the positive thing was I was able to meet all the lads and everyone was really welcoming.”

Saturday’s game between Shields and Brandon was postponed at Mariners Park despite tireless work on the pitch.

Vice-chairman Gary Crutwell and manager Jon King were among those who helped to prepare the pitch on the morning of the game following overnight rainfall.

By 1pm, the surface was playable, but by the time the referee had arrived an hour later, more rain had fallen.

The referee told the Mariners that if they could remove surface water from the pitch, the game would go ahead, so a team of people took to the field armed with pitch-forks.

At one stage, among those on the pitch helping out were King, Crutwell, captain Leepaul Scroggins, coach David Hall, physio Andy Morris, a number of committee members and supporters, but the rain continued to fall, and much to the dismay of the two sets of players – who had just completed their warm-ups – the referee called the game off 15 minutes before kick-off.

Hall later said: “It couldn’t have been prevented, to be fair.

“I think the reason the referee called the game off in the end was because he couldn’t guarantee to get it finished. That was the main issue.

“At 3pm, we could have probably started the game, but looking back having calmed down, I think possibly it was the right decision to make by the referee.

“We were all very frustrated that it was called off so close to kick-off, especially after all of the effort that had gone in from players, staff, committee and supporters on the pitch, but the referee probably made the correct call in the end.”