Written by Max
Ground #68
Saturday 19th April 2025
NPL Division 1 East (Step 4)
Dunston UTS 2-1 Carlton Town
Attendance: 272
Entry: £10
Dunston UTS were formed in 1975 as a works team for staff working in the public sector in the Dunston and Gateshead area. Initially named Whickham Sports, the club have undergone a number of name changes in their short history including Dunston Mechanics, Dunston Federation Brewery and most recently, taking their current name thanks to sponsorship from a local engineering company in 2009.
Just 3 years after this name change, the club created their biggest piece of history to date as they won the FA Vase, beating fellow North East opponents West Auckland 2-0 in the final. In 2019 the club won promotion to their current step 4 division where they have remained ever since. After making the play offs last season, the club are currently sitting 2nd in the league and will hope to go one step further this season and win promotion to step 3 for the first time in the clubs history.
Today they came up against in form Carlton Town who have been on an incredible run, losing only once since Christmas and were looking to gatecrash the play offs themselves after a mediocre first half of the season.
Carlton have a small but loyal group of supporters who follow them home and away and we must say they are by far the friendliest and most welcoming fan base we have come across on our travels. This meant when we saw they were playing just 20 minutes from where we were spending the Easter bank holiday weekend we thought it would be a great chance to meet up with them again. Before the game we met up with a group of them in a pub near the ground called the Tudor Rose which was just a short walk from the ground.
After a catch up and a couple of pre match pints, including Emma’s obligatory dark fruits, we headed to the ground just in time for kick off.
Carlton started the game well and an early shot was dragged just wide of the post. At the other end Dunston’s first opportunity came through an acrobatic bicycle kick which unfortunately for the hosts went well wide of the post.
Both teams were very evenly matched and chances were limited in the first half as both teams struggled to take control. The game started to bubble up after a very late tackle from a Carlton winger was only given a yellow card with the Dunston staff adamant it demanded more.
Ten minutes into the second half and a header from a free kick gave Dunston the lead. After this the game went scrappy with not many chances created. That was until the 72nd minute when a goal mouth scramble from a corner was poked home for an equaliser much to the delight of the travelling fans behind the goal.
The elation was short lived though as just 5 minutes later some quick thinking from the hosts saw a free kick taken quickly, catching the Carlton keeper off his line. Luckily for him he raced back just in time to tip the ball over.
From the resulting corner, another header and it was 2-1 to Dunston. A deserved lead for the hosts who then limited Carlton’s chances in the remaining 10 minutes.
The frustration began to boil over and a stamp from one of the Carlton players saw him sent for an early bath and the small group of young Dunston fans with a drum, who had been creating a decent atmosphere all game were starting to wind up the away bench.
A good win for UTS who continue to cement themselves in 2nd place and will be looking forward to the play offs for the 2nd year in a row. Meanwhile, the defeat means Carlton’s play off dreams are over for this season.
Now to rate our day on Tyneside:
Location: 7/10
The ground is just a 15 minute walk from Dunston train station, with multiple trains every hour taking you the short trip across the Tyne into Newcastle.
There is a pub at the station called the Dun Cow, aswell as the Tudor Rose which is also a short walk from the ground
Kit: 8/10
Dunston play in an all blue kit with a nice 2 tone pattern on the front of the shirt. The only thing that lets this kit down in my opinion is the grey UTS logo on the front, but I suppose when the club is named after the company, it makes sense to have their logo in as many places as possible!
Facilities: 6/10
The clubhouse at Wellington Road is hidden behind the changing rooms at one end of the ground. Once you’ve found your way into the container looking building you find a large bar area with plenty of seating and screens showing live sport. The walls were filled with memorabilia and photos from their famous Wembley win in 2012, and although it wasn’t the most attractively decorated clubhouse we have been in, the tables and chairs seemed pretty new and it was a good space to spend half time getting warm out of the wind.
Outside the clubhouse is a small beer garden area which would have been lovely on a warmer day. Unfortunately as you can see from the photo below, nobody was braving it during todays game
Look: 7/10
Dunston’s ground consists of 2 main stands straddling the half way line on either side of the pitch. On the near side to both turnstiles is the Shaun Sadler stand which contains all of the grounds seating. This is mainly made up of wooden benching.
On the opposite side is the Tommy Cooney stand which contains raised terraced standing and was home to the noisier home supporters. A really good view can be found from this stand and we made the most of this during the first half
The rest of the ground is made up of flat hard standing.
The entire place had a really nice feel to it and with a lot of the ground, including the pitch side fencing and outer walls painted in the clubs colours, this finished the ground off nicely and looked really smart. We both also liked how the stadium was surrounded by trees which created a nice enclosed feel to the ground
Food and Drink: 5.5/10
As we arrived at the ground we headed straight for the food kiosk behind the goal. We both went for cheeseburgers with onions. These were both pretty standard football burgers although with the patties being a little on the thin side and quite over done which meant they were a bit crispy. For the price though they did what a nonleague burger does and filled us up before the game
The bar had a decent selection on draught, but importantly, from the can bar behind the goal was the option of strongbow dark fruits! Bonus half point added!
TOTAL SCORE 33.5/50
It was a fantastic coincidence that Carlton were playing in the North East on the same weekend we were in the area and it was great to catch up with their fans again. The result may not have gone in their favour but as always we enjoyed watching The Millers away from home. We will definitely have to get on a few more away days with them next season as it looks likely they will be transferred across into the much more local Midland division.
As for Dunston, we went into this game completely blind having no idea about the club or ground prior to our visit. I always enjoy these ones as anything can happen, and this one was certainly a positive experience. The ground was one of the nicest we have come across at this level and we must commend the volunteers at the club as everything at the ground was in near perfect condition and the place seemed really well looked after. We will follow the play offs closely to see if they can continue their rise up the pyramid.
If you would like to see where this places Dunston in our Non League Leaderboard click here: NON LEAGUE
If you’d like to see the Football League grounds we have visited click here: The 92
Emma’s Ground Guide 