UniBond Premier

13th November 2004

Attendance - 274

Team - Campbell D, Atkinson, Veart, Farthing, Linighan, Nicholson, Ormerod (Campbell), Scaife (McTiernan), Johnson, Gildea L, Bishop Subs - Williams

Report - by Andrew Snaith - Local lad Nicky Scaife's scintillating free-kick and a Steve Johnson brace helped Whitby to second place in the Unibond Premier, and a 3-0 beating of Bamber Bridge at the Turnbull Ground on Saturday.
The last time Whitby broke into the top-two of the league was August 1998- their first season in the Premier Division following back-to-back promotion, and Blues boss Dave Logan is unbeaten in nine matches since becoming Whitby Town FC's 24th first team manager.
Logan made two changes from the midweek FA Trophy victory over Marine. Mark Obern, sidelined for a fortnight with a stomach muscle injury, and assistant manager Graham Robinson made way for Liam Gildea to return after suspension and Paul Atkinson to make a first league start since September.
And it was the Seasiders who started the strongest, winning a succession of corners inside the opening three minutes. Gildea and Johnson came close early on, with Scaife linking well from midfield. However, Bridge could've led on five minutes but Adam Ruscoe hammered watefully wide from just six yards with an unconvincing swing of the left foot.
At the other end, an opportunist Gildea strike almost caught keeper Andy Banks napping, the ball narrowly scraping past the far post with Banks back-pedalling.
The following half-hour was as bleak as the cruel November afternoon, but as the North Sea gale lashed across Upgang Lane, Whitby's forwards finally blew the Lancastrians stern defence open. With 36 minutes on the clock, Craig Veart fed Johnson on the edge of the Bamber box and the nippy forward turned neatly before driving clinically into the bottom right corner of the net.
With two minutes of the first half remaining, former Birmingham City striker Chris Ward headed into the Whitby net. However, the alert assistant referee raised a sobering offside flag to bring a halt to the visitors' celebrations.
Atkinson's turn and shot from distance flew just wide early in the second half, before Bridge fluffed another golden opportunity to level the scores. Ward was in such a hurry to despatch the ball after finding acres of space in the six yard box, that he promptly tripped over it, and by the time he regained his feet, Danny Farthing was back to make a saving slide challenge.
The game didn't kick back into life until after the hour-mark when Johnson should've doubled Whitby's lead but could only poke over from point blank range after Atkinson's attempted shot fell into his path.
Two minutes later, Scott Nicholson and Anth Ormerod combined beautifully with Nicholson hammering a vicious 18-yard drive against the Bridge bar with Banks beaten.
However, mere seconds had elapsed before Whitby grabbed the killer second goal. Johnson's trickery saw him upended on the left side of the pitch, some 25 yards from goal. Enter local hero Scaife who stepped up to fire a right-footed bullet into the top-right corner of the Lancastrians net, Banks would've done well to see it.
Logan's Blues were now relaxed and found their rhythm with Scaife and Ormerod pulling the strings effortlessly across the midfield. The latter volleyed wide on 73 minutes before more neat interplay made Whitby's third.
Ormerod exchanges passes with Johnson just outside the Bridge box, with the former Middlesbrough star squaring perfectly for Johnson to continue his run and slide home his fourth of the season from point blank range.
Scaife and Ormerod deservedly enjoyed the applause of the crowd once more in the final five minutes, as they madeway in quick succession for Paul Campbell and Dave McTiernan respectively.
The Lancastrians' day was summed up perfectly on 88 minutes when Ward fired blindly high and wide completely off-balance from the left edge of the Whitby box. Whitby never reached top gear but were made to look considerably better thanks to the visitors' stunningly wasteful strikers.
However, the day's three points lifted Whitby above promotion rivals Hyde United who have two games in hand on the Seasiders, and provide the opposition this Saturday, in an outstanding early-season six-pointer.