Buxton and South Shields shared the points to begin the year at a bitterly cold Silverlands Stadium.
The visitors made a bright start as Dan Ward delivered a dangerous cross into the area, with George Ward on hand to block it away.
Moments later, Johnny Johnston almost found himself through on goal at the other end, only for the linesman’s flag to be raised for offside.
Following the end to end opening, it was The Mariners who carved out the next opportunity after a mistake at the back from Buxton. Paul Blackett nearly latched onto the loose ball, but a defender recovered quickly enough to clear behind.
From the a corner, the ball eventually dropped to Johnston, but the forward could not find the target as his effort drifted narrowly wide.
Soon after, South Shields broke away on the counter attack with Blackett racing down the right. His ball into the box picked out Sean McGurk, who beat the goalkeeper with his shot, only for Max Bardell to clear off the line.
Although Buxton had started the game well, Bardell was then forced off through injury and was replaced by Deniche Hill.
On 28 minutes, there was almost a bizarre opener when South Shields captain Robbie Tinkler struck his own teammate with a clearance, the ball crashing against the crossbar before being cleared to safety.
Buxton came close themselves when George Ward nearly continued his fine goalscoring form, meeting Tate Campbell’s dinked delivery with a header that went out for a goal kick.
Just before the break, the final chance of the half fell to Connor Douglas, whose effort aimed at catching the keeper out drifted just wide.
After the restart, the away side almost took the lead immediately as McGurk was found at the back post, but he put his effort wide.
Joe Young was then forced into action when Blackett broke away with pace, his chipped shot well saved by the Buxton number one.
Minutes later, Young was called upon again as Bainbridge overlapped on the left, producing a sharp stop to deny the defender’s effort.
The pressure eventually told as Ward was picked out in the box and finished off the post to give South Shields a 1-0 lead.
Ward nearly doubled his tally soon after, seeing another effort saved before it appeared destined for the net, only for Sammy Robinson to calmly clear off the line.
Buxton found their way back into the contest in the 72nd minute as substitutes combined, Ryan McLean crossing for Adriel Walker to head in under the bar and level the scores.
Walker almost grabbed a second moments later, but he was caught narrowly offside from Campbell’s pass.
That proved to be the final major opportunity of the contest as both sides settled for a point in their first game of 2026.
When reflecting on the game, Buxton manager John McGrath said: “I thought it was a really good game of football. If you were a neutral today, it was a great game of football to come and watch. I thought we got it spot on with our press. Really proud of the boys. I thought it was a really good performance from them.”
