FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round

18th September 2004

Attendance - 247

Team - Escritt, Williams, Veart, Linighan, Farthing, Bishop, Atkinson(McTiernan 84), A Gildea, Ormerod(Johnson 86, L Gildea 90), Robinson, Nicholson. Subs not used: D Campbell, Lynch.

Report - by Andrew Snaith - Whitby overcame a poor start to defeat former Northern League rivals Billingham Synthonia and book their place in the second qualifying round of the FA Cup on Teesside last Saturday.
Caretaker manager Dave Logan made one change from the side that defeated Ossett Town 1-0 in midweek, with midfielder Alex Gildea returning from injury to replace Paul Campbell. Synthonia included no less than six ex-Whitby players with 1997 Championship-winning star Ian Williams, Neil Radigan, Craig Perry, David Wells, Andy Fletcher and keeper John Mohan all lining up to face their former club.
And it was one of those ex-Blues who tested Ben Escritt on eight minutes, with an awkward drive that skipped up off the pitch and was chested wide by the surprised young Whitby keeper.
Seven minutes later and Wells surprised all in attendance by grabbing the lead for the home side. Radigan’s free-kick was charged down by the Whitby wall but only as far as Wells who lashed in a deflected low drive that somehow found the right hand corner of Escritt’s net, with the flatfooted 20-year-old completely unsighted.
Logan shouted angrily from the touchline, imploring his players to get a grip of the game. And they almost levelled on 23 minutes, when Craig Veart’s cross found Scott Nicholson unmarked, but Crager did well to slide in and clear. The resulting corner was flicked on by Graham Robinson for Ant Ormerod to nod over from close range. Gildea then fired another warning shot with his surprise 18 yard effort well saved low down by Mohan.
Within a minute, Whitby were level right on the half hour mark. Synthonia’s Central Avenue ground is also home to Middlesbrough Reserves, and it was an ex-Boro boy who found the net, when Ormerod’s close range drive was blocked with his legs by Mohan, the ex-England Youth star was quickest to react hammering the rebound into the roof of the net.
Two minutes later, some good one touch play from the Seasiders released Neil Bishop down the right and his cross found Robinson unmarked in the centre. But the skipper’s point-blank header was tipped over well by Mohan. Within seconds, the Blues had the ball in the net again, but Brian Linighan’s smart close range finish was ruled after Nicholson was adjudged to have headed out of Mohan’s hands to set up the chance.
At the other end, Lee Flanagan almost reclaimed Billingham’s lead with Escritt doing well to push a searching angled drive around the near post. On 42 minutes, a real up and under cross was headed goal-wards by Lake with Escritt again doing well to save.
However, it was the men from North Yorkshire who came closest to finding the net before the break. Mohan came racing out of his net but Robinson hurdled the keeper’s rash slide by the touchline and crossed only for Ormerod to see his header blocked on the line by another former Teesider in Christian Hansen.
Four minutes into the second half, and Lake had an excellent chance to reassert his side’s lead. Outsprinting Veart, he found himself all alone on the edge of the Whitby box but his nervous first-time drive rolled comfortably into Escritt’s clutches.
The Cleveland side were to pay the price on 56 minutes when Hansen handled Robinson’s cross in the area and Bradford referee Mr Haycock had no hesitation in pointing to the penalty spot. As the smoke from the giant ICI plant nearby clearly, Veart stepped up and clinically found the bottom left corner of the net, thudding off Mohan’s glove on the way through. Whitby would’ve tied the game up on 68 minutes as Ormerod’s pin-point cross found Nicholson’s head just inches from goal. But the towering midfielder’s goalbound header was brilliantly tipped over by that same Mohan glove- an incredible reflex save.
The action spilled to the other end, and the Synthonia contingent were on their feet demanding a penalty kick of their own, after Graham Williams and Danny Farthing sandwiched Flanagan as he darted towards the white line. The West Yorkshire official indicated a free-kick right on the edge of the box which Radigan fired against the wall and up over the bar. Three minutes later, Williams’ handled close to the box, with the hosts again demanding a spot kick, and Radigan could have been Bill Murray in Groundhog Day as he once again thumped the ball over the bar via the Whitby wall.
As the clock ticked down, Whitby made their first change of the match with six minutes remaining, Dave McTiernan replacing Paul Atkinson on the right flank. The sub boards had barely been lowered before McTiernan was in the action striding forward and playing in Ormerod who shot first-time across goal but wide of the far post from just inside the box. Moments later, as Whitby finished much the stronger, Veart’s corner fell to Linighan lurking on the edge of the box, but the big centre-half grazing in unfamiliar pastures, poked tentatively over the crossbar. With 86 minutes played, Ormerod took the applause of the crowd and left the field, with fellow striker Steve Johnson making a very welcome first appearance of the season after suffering a hamstring pull in pre-season. A minute from the end, Johnson sprinted forward just like old times, but his low angled drive was comfortably collected by Mohan.
But the script was far from finished for Johnson as he raced forward to nod Nicholson’s loping cross over the onrushing Mohan and inside the far post from the left edge of the Synners’ box. The jubilant striker couldn’t resist sprinting towards the sizable three-figure Whitby contingent in the main stand and raising his fist in celebration. But Johnson’s afternoon was to turn like a whirling dervish, as the young striker found himself limping off the field altogether, holding the same hamstring, Whitby forced into a final substitution as Liam Gildea took his place for the dying seconds. The referee’s final whistle signalled a big cheer from the majority of the crowd- the Unibond side outnumbering their hosts off the field as well as on. However, Johnson’s injury slightly tainted an otherwise excellent afternoon for the Yorkshiremen- Dave Logan applauded the Whitby support as he left the field to cheers and shouts of support, his third win out of four, upping his chances of cermenting a permanent role.