AN improved second half performance came up short as Ponteland United were beaten by Shankhouse.

Manager Liam McIvor boldly made two half time substitutions to freshen things up and it nearly paid off as they reduced the two goal margin, yet still ended on the losing side of the 2-1 scoreline.

Ponteland suffered a blow early in the game when Jack L’Argent stayed down after a tackle and had to be replaced by Gary Cook.

They came closest to breaking the deadlock when a free kick from Reece Havelock-Brown was headed over by Shaun Johnstone, while at the other end Nathan Edwards was penalised with a yellow card for trying to con the referee into thinking he was brought down in the area by Darren Bowey-Tyler.

There was little goalmouth action until the half hour when Shankhouse opened the scoring, Edwards the hero this time as he reacted to a cross into the area to flick past the United stopper.

Five minutes later and the officials were again having a discussion when the referee initially waved away appeals for a penalty after a challenge by McIvor, but the linesman had his flag raised for a spot kick which was fired down the middle by Russell Ward.

Trailing by two goals, McIvor replaced Johnstone and Rory Spencer with Chris Hibbit and Paul Jones, and United looked much better after the break.

Alex Nisbet nearly got them back into the game in spectacular style as he sent an acrobatic overhead kick but that attempt, like a header a few minutes earlier, was deflected wide for a corner.

Pont did get a goal back with 15 minutes remaining when Ethan Bewley turned in the area and drilled a low shot into the far corner.

United pushed forward in search of an equaliser but left themselves exposed, defender Glenn Ford shown a second yellow card for a mistimed challenge as Shankhouse broke.

Two goals from Havelock-Brown earned United a 2-1 victory over Walker Central in midweek, the visitors pulling a goal back on 60 minutes when danger man Ethan Tait sent home a penalty to make for a nervy finish.