UniBond Premier

4th December 2004

Attendance - 314

Team - D Campbell, Atkinson(Williams 85), Veart, Farthing, Linighan, Nicholson, Ormerod(McTiernan 81), Scaife, L Gildea(Johnson 55), Pounder, Bishop.

Report - by Andrew Snaith - Whitby Town jumped to second in the league on Saturday after goals from debutant David Pounder and top scorer Scott Nicholson either side of half-time secured a narrow derby victory over basement club Bishop Auckland at the Turnbull Ground.

Dave Logan's side who extended their unbeaten run to 14 matches, remain just two points behind long-term leaders Workington with a game in hand. Left-sided striker Pounder, signed on loan from Scarborough last week was the only change for Whitby, as the in-form Steve Johnson had to settle for a place on the subs bench.

The Blues started well with the 25-point gap between clubs showing early on. Within four minutes, a brilliant Neil Bishop run from his own half set up Ant Ormerod, whose deflected shot was driven weakly goalwards by Pounder from the edge of the box, and keeper Wolfe was able to collect.

Bishops player-coach Mike Taylor almost found his own net in the 10th minute when his scuffed backpass left Wolfe flatfooted and rolled inches wide of the far post.

Towering centre-half Brian Linighan headed over from Veart's far post free-kick, and Scott Nicholson saw a similar effort tipped over impressively by Wolfe from Atkinson's cross.

To their credit, Bishops worked hard at the back and squeezed the game well in midfield. Whitby looked very average in reply and the visitors even came close to snatching a shock lead with a string of chances in quick succession around the half hour mark.

Firstly, Brian Ross poked narrowly over from a good position, then Moore sent a speculative 20 yard effort well wide. However, Bishops' best chance fell to an ex-Whitby player in striker Mark Sheeran. A defensive lapse saw the former Darlington youngster with his back to goal on the edge of the six yard box. But with just one defender to beat, his turn and shot flew well wide.

Whitby threw men forward at the other end and with six minutes of the half remaining, Brian Honour's Bishops side were very lucky to stay on level terms. Paul Atkinson's driven right-wing cross was somehow missed by Taylor and Foster inside the Auckland box, with the loose ball falling to Veart on the edge of the area. The veteran full-back ran in and struck a low drive that took a big deflection off Taylor but landed straight in Wolfe's midrift.

However, Town weren't to be denied and took the lead on the stroke of half-time when the bounce finally favoured the home side. Nick Scaife started the move, beating Coglan superbly inside his own half and releasing Ormerod. The former Middlesbrough star saw his shot deflected into Nicholson's path, whose goalbound effort fell perfectly for Pounder to tap home clinically from point blank range.

Into the second half, and Atkinson signalled the hosts' intent with a 25-yard chip wide from a near-impossible angle within seconds of the restart.
The Seasiders continued to threaten down the right and promptly doubled their lead thanks to a glimpse of Ormerod class on 51 minutes. The Ex-England Youth forward beat two men against the right byline, before looping over a pinpoint cross for Nicholson to head emphatically past Wolfe, for his eighth of the season.

Auckland then fluffed a golden chance to reduce the arrears three minutes later. Again it was Sheeran who raced clear after Linighan's wild miss-kick, but once again the striker snatched at the ball and hammered well wide from the edge of the box.

Things went from bad to worse for the Unibond's bottom club when Scaife and Auckland skipper Mark Foster clashed on the hour mark. Foster reacted badly to a mistimed lunge from the Whitby man, appearing to land a headbutt and flouting the league's crackdown on swearing with a torrent of abuse for Middlesbrough official Ian Parkin. The referee had no hesitation in raising a straight red card for Foster who managed to direct more verbals towards the near-side linesman despite the jeers of the crowd as he left the field.

By now Johnson had replaced Gildea in the Blues forward line, but as so often happens when a team is reduced to ten men, Bishops stepped up a gear and limited Whitby to very few chances.

In a rare break, Ormerod cut inside and teed up Pounder to drive a difficult 20 yard half-volley just wide.

The final ten minutes saw Ormerod and Atkinson leave to generous applause from the 314 crowd- the Turnbull's highest league attendance of the season- with Dave McTiernan and Graham Williams their respective replacements.

There was still time for one more chance, and it should have seen Whitby net a useful third goal. With Ormerod off the field, it was McTiernan who filled his boots, delivering a beautiful arching cross from the right, only for Nicholson to dive-head wide of the mark when it seemed easier to score, less than six yards from goal.