SOUTH SHIELDS completed a magnificent trophy quadruple when they lifted the FA Vase at Wembley yesterday.

Shields could have scored more, as striker Gavin Cogdon, playing in his second Vase final, caused the Cleethorpes defence endless problems, and former Hartlepool striker David Foley provided the late killer touch. The pre match hype was about former Sunderland and Middlesbrough midfielder Julio Arca, but it was Cogdon who earned most of the praise.

Shields nearly took the lead on 5 minutes when a free kick from the right was nodded down by Dillon Morse, and Carl Finnigan was a whisker away from connecting just a couple of yards out. Just three minutes later, Cleethorpes keeper Liam Higton had to dash quickly off his line to stop Finnigan after Cogdon put the Shields forward through.

Andrew Stephenson and Cogdon, who both won the Vase with Spennymoor in 2013, were both then off target, but the Northern Counties East League side nearly stunned Shields on 23 minutes when Brody Robertson broke down the right flank and fired in a low shot that Shields keeper Liam Connell palmed away one-handed down to his right.

After Finnigan went close twice more, Shields got the breakthrough on 41 minutes. Cogdon made a characteristic jinking run from the left into the box and was tripped by right back Tim Lowe, and Finnigan sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot.

Cogdon was unlucky not to make it 2-0 in stoppage time. Again he cut in from the left, Lowe didn’t dare challenge, and Cogdon hit a low shot that Higton turned against the crossbar, and his follow up header went wide.

The crossbar again came to Cleethorpe’s rescue at the start of the second half, when Foley cut in from the left and struck a right foot shot that was heading towards the top corner until Higton got a fingertip to the ball and touched it on to the bar.

Cogdon was unlucky in the next minute when another run ended with Higton blocking his shot, but at the other end Alex Nicholson produced a goal saving tackle to deny Robertson after the striker had carved his way through. But that was the last threat posed by Cleethorpes.

But Shields cranked up the pressure at the other end and Cleethorpes had no answer. Higton then saved his team again, stopping Cogdon’s ten yard shot, but Shields scored a deserved second on 79 minutes when sub Robbie Briggs curled over a free kick from the left for Dillon Morse to head in at the far post.

With four minutes left, Richardson threaded the ball through for Foley to pick his spot for the third, then Foley made it 4-0 with a well-placed shot from a Darren Lough pass.

Shields manager Graham Fenton, who won the Vase with North Shields two seasons ago, said; “I thought we were a bit tentative in the first half, and we weren’t quite up to our best. It was a little bit frustrating at times, because we got into some great scoring positions. The ball didn’t quite drop for us or we got the final pass wrong. We played a little bit too safe, and I told the players to come out of their shells a little bit more in the second half.

“I told our players at half time to keep on giving the ball to Gavin, because he was having an excellent game. Every time he got the ball something seemed to happen, and he tore their defence apart. In the end, our fitness told, and we over ran them on a physical level in the last ten minutes and they couldn’t get back into the game.

“I was delighted for Julio Arca, because winning at Wembley is something that he has always dreamed of.”

It was Arca’s first visit to the Arch as a player, and he said; “It was a great experience to take part in the game. I enjoyed every minute.”

South Shields: Connell, Nicholson, Lough, Shaw, Morse, Arca, Stephenson (Briggs 55), Phillips (Smith 83), Cogdon, Finnigan (Richardson 70), Foley. Subs: Storey, Holden

Cleethorpes: Higton, Lowe, Winn, Dickens, Bloomer, Coleman (Mascall 70), Davis (Richardson 73), Flett, Cooper (Taylor 61), Robertson, Oglesby. Subs: King, Wressell