30th September 2003

Attendance - 468

Team - Clementson, Williams, Betts, Reed, Hall, Linighan, Ormerod, Ure(Swales 76), Burt, P Campbell(McTiernan 87), Veart. Sub not used: Obern n)

Report - Whitby were indebted to goalkeeper Adam Clementson who kept them in the game before Craig Veart’s last minute penalty equaliser. Earlier, ex-Blue Michael Laws had given Blyth the lead with eight minutes left. Laws then turned villain minutes later when he upended Graeme Williams for the penalty, angry Blyth fans and Laws himself claimed Williams dived. The bad feeling even extended to the boardroom where Whitby chairman Graham Manser was called a cheat by a Blyth committee member, prompting Whitby’s officials to walk out in disgust.
Former Aston Villa and Blackburn Rovers striker Graham Fenton lined up for Blyth while Jamie Burt skippered the Whitby side against his former club and home town. The Blues were without Graham Robinson through injury, and Ben Dixon who was stuck in traffic. Harry Dunn went for an attacking formation with Burt, Lee Ure, and Anthony Ormerod all in the starting line-up.
This North East derby started very cagily with both sides determined not to give so much as an inch to the other. It was Spartans who had the first chance of note, when Reed was forced into a goal-line clearence with the follow-up striking Hall in the crowded Whitby box, and appeals for handball were waved away. Blyth then should’ve had the lead five minutes later, when Fenton chipped over Clementson but the Whitby keeper managed to get back to save Woodhouse’s goal-bound header.
In-between, referee Mr Duncan needlessly booked Adam Reed and Jamie Burt for two very innocuous fouls. Woodhouse nodded over Crutwell’s cross on 29 minutes as Blyth continued to look the more likely to break the deadlock. Whitby were attacking on the break when possible but were struggling to get forward and test Turns in the Spartans goal.
On 32 minutes, Blyth had another great chance when Fenton again tried a chip from 20 yards, with Clementson doing brilliantly to tip the former England U21 star’s effort onto the crossbar, with the ball eventually hoofed clear by the Blues backline.
Three minutes later, Fenton let rip with a vicious swerving drive that just passed Clementson’s far post. At the other end, Whitby’s best chance came two minutes before the break when Burt was released down the right, but he took his shot too early and blasted over the bar from 20 yards.
Despite the hosts’ prominence, Whitby came out purposefully for the second half with Burt’s pinpoint left wing cross headed over by Ormerod in the opening minute. Harry Dunn had changed things around at the break, going from 3-5-2 with wing-backs to a flat 4-4-2 with Ure pushed onto the wing. At the other end, some brilliant skill from Fenton left Reed on his backside, with Clementson clutching the resulting angled drive low to his right.
On 51 minutes, Gareth Williams’ deft cross was flicked just wide by Woodhouse. A minute later at the other end, Paul Campbell picked out Ure on the left who put in a superb low cross that somehow missed everyone as it flew across the six yard box.
Fenton then fired in a real piledriver from distance that Clementson parried, before clutching Woodhouse’s close range effort from the rebound.
Whitby were having slightly more of the play in the second period however, and after Veart volleyed over on 72 minutes, Brian Linighan’s shot was charged down just inside the Spartans box.
Blyth looked to have finally broke the deadlock when Williams hammered one from 30 yards towards the top right corner of the Whitby net, but Clementson pulled off the best stop of the night- a brilliant reflex save to tip the ball wide.
Harry Dunn introduced right winger Mark Swales for the last 15 minutes in place of Ure to try and keep things tight. But six minutes later, Blyth had the lead and it started from a miss-taken free-kick in their own half. The foul occurred in the Blyth box but the kick was taken 15 yards forward, it released Williams whose flick across goal picked out Laws to poke home from close range.
Whitby pushed men forward in a last push for a share of the spoils. On 85 minutes, Simon Betts let fly with a well struck 25 yard shot from a difficult angle that flew just over the Blyth bar. David McTiernan replaced Paul Campbell with three minutes remaining. To their credit, the Blues kept soldering on right to the end, and in the 89th minute, Graeme Williams surged into the Spartans box and was felled by Laws’ trailing leg. Mr Duncan was perfectly positioned and had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Veart, 100% from the penalty spot for the Blues, stepped up after a long delay as Blyth players surrounded the referee. And the unruffled former Spennymoor man coolly sent Turns the wrong way and picked his spot low just to the left of centre in the Spartans net. The referee clearly sensing trouble blew for full-time just seconds into injury time. An angry Laws confronted Williams at the end as the furious Blyth contingent loudly chanted “CHEAT CHEAT CHEAT” as the players left the field.
All in all however, this was not a dirty game, it was a full-blooded North East derby with plenty of good football from two sides who really are better than their league placings suggest.