Recap
Bishops impressively went head to toe for 80 minutes with Conference North full-time opposition before falling to a pair of late set pieces which ended this season’s FA Cup campaign.
There was no sign of any difference in quality between the sides in a hard-fought first half with Catterick only once called into meaningful action when he parried a shot around the post minutes before halftime.
Bishops displayed an attacking threat on numerous occasions but the Shields defence prevented any clear-cut opportunities. Morse appeared to handle a Henderson effort inside the penalty area on 26 minutes and Johnson wriggled into space before seeing his shot go wide six minutes later.
The only real chance of the half came on 42 minutes when Blackett crossed for the home forward Gomes, whose header was placed wide.
Most supporters inside the impressive ‘1st Cloud Arena’ expected a response from the home side after the break, but this never materialised and the Bishops maintained a strong foothold in the game continuing to attack when given the opportunity.
On 78 minutes Shields finally got behind the Bishops’ defence and Blackett was brought down giving the referee no option other than signalling for a penalty. Catterick was beaten to his left by the same player who won the spot kick.
Danni Lay then saw red with seven minutes left for what appeared to be a strong but fair challenge before the resultant free kick was curled into the corner by Smith to dent Bishops’ hopes of coming away with anything other than well-deserved pride in the performance they delivered.
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