Newcastle Blue Star vs Blyth Town (02/05/2025)

It all boils down to this. Some say that playoff finals are a cruel way to decide who also earns promotion at the end of this season’s Northern League Division One campaign. A whole season distilled into just 90 more minutes of effort, ignoring everything that has taken place beforehand.

At the same time, some say playoff finals offer the end of season drama that adds the perfect exclamation point to the campaign and whatever side of the fence you sit on, all eyes are will be on the KD Stadium on Friday night.

The venue for this season’s Division One playoff final as Newcastle Blue Star and Blyth Town square off in a bid to leave the division behind and with the two sides finishing fourth and fifth respectively, this may not be the final that was expected a week or so ago.

Then again, one could argue that Blue Star’s fourth place was not quite reflective of their league efforts as a whole and only because of their final day shared points with Blyth Town were they subsequently pipped to third in the table.

Pipped by Boro Rangers and this meant Marc Nash’s young squad would be on their travels last Friday and if there was any doubt whether his group of players could handle the pressure, their showing at Pheonix Park felt like a coming of age performance.

A young squad that grew in front of Blue Star’s vociferous support and with Michael Ndiweni’s speculative effort looping over the Boro Rangers keeper in the first half, the visitors’ advantage was double by Dan Lanning after the interval.

If there was one foot at the final at the stage, Ndiweni’s second of the game with just minutes remaining secured Blue Star’s second successive playoff final appearance as they now aim to secure a third successive promotion.

Standing in their way are a Blyth Town side which had no respect for the form guide less than a day later and although Shildon may have pushed Redcar Athletic close in terms of league honours, they seemingly pushed themselves too much before the playoffs began.

Shildon with home advantage but not enough of an advantage to secure their own playoff final spot and with Blyth Town winning by two goals to one, it also means a repeat of a league clash that took place less than a fortnight ago.

Easter Saturday saw a 1-1 draw contested at South Newsham Playing Fields. The same outcome after 90 minutes will mean penalties decide who gets promoted. Two teams with a lottery ticket, only one with the winning number and the draw takes place this Friday.

Something which sets up this upcoming clash rather nicely. A warm welcome goes out to the visiting Blyth Town team and support and for those who lend their voice to the home team, make sure to bring the noise throughout.