UniBond Premier Division

10th April 2004

Attendance - 316

Team - D Campbell, Nicholson, Veart, P Campbell, Hall, Dixon, McTiernan(Sheeran 70), A Gildea, Robinson(Reed 75), Johnson, L Gildea. Sub not used: Linighan.

Report - by Andrew Snaith - Whitby Town are now level on points with 13th placed Altrincham after scraping a 2-1 win in a bad-tempered clash with Frickley Athletic at the Turnbull Ground on Saturday.
The Blues needed an 84th minute Craig Veart penalty to see off the West Yorkshire side, after Duncan Richards’ blatant trip on Mark Sheeran. Earlier, Scott Nicholson had headed Whitby ahead in the first half, only for Dan Sheriffe to level moments later.
Whitby started much the brighter within two minutes, Steve Johnson escaped the offside trap to latch on to Dixon’s long ball but headed straight at keeper Jon Hood from 18 yards.
Three minutes later, Johnson raced clear again on the right flank but his cross was missed by Robinson’s outstretched boot with the South African at full stretch.
The Blues came agonisingly close on eleven minutes to grabbing the lead when Liam Gildea’s off balance 18 yard drive was slid off his own line by Richards.
But they only had to wait three minutes to lead when McTiernan’s free-kick was headed back across goal by Tony Hall for Nicholson to nod in from point blank range.
However, no sooner had Whitby gone ahead than they conspired to throw it away. An innocuous cross from Nellthorpe managed to elude the entire Whitby defence for Sheriffe to walk home from close range at the far post.
Athletic came more into the game and had a goal chalked off when Aaron Downes headed home from an offside position. Lee Morris’ 39th minute volley was brilliantly turned wide by Dave Campbell as Frickley found another gear.
Liam Gildea fired straight at Hood from 30 yards before Johnson missed a golden chance to put Whitby in front at the interval. Graham Robinson surged forward and played the youngster in superbly, but as he faced Hood one on one, the former Stokesley striker’s control let him down and he walked the ball out of play.
The second half saw Blues keeper Dave Campbell had to undergo lengthy treatment after colliding with Nicholson as the pair competed for a high ball. Thankfully, Campbell recovered and pulled off another excellent save to deny Nick Richardson on the hour.
Eight minutes later, Campbell again thwarted Richardson with a diving parry from the former York City veteran’s volley.
The game became heated as Hall and Morris clashed off the ball with five Frickley players booked in a fifteen minute spell. On 78 minutes, Nicholson flicked on for Johnson to poke wide. Harry Dunn introduced former Darlington pair Mark Sheeran and defender Adam Reed at the expense of Dave McTiernan, who is still carrying a back injury and Robinson who has a strained hamstring. Nicholson was pushed up front as Whitby went for broke with three up front and three at the back.
And it was Sheeran who carved out Whitby’s chance to regain the lead, he tricked his way round Richards on the left edge of the box, only for the long-haired full-back to cynically catch the striker’s heels and send him sprawling to the ground. Referee Mr Oliver was in a perfect position and had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Craig Veart, the club’s top scorer with ten goals and 100% from the spot for the Blues, rifled the penalty clinically into the bottom right corner giving Hood no chance.
Frickley’s frustrations were clearly evident as Steve Robinson tripped Johnson just outside the Frickley box and gave his full uncensored view of the incident to the official, who countered with a straight red card for the midfielder.
On 86 minutes, Veart’s goalbound free-kick was acrobatically turned over by Hood as Whitby insatiably searched for the killer third goal. The lively 316 crowd became anxious for the final whistle to put the bottom line on another three points. After six nail-biting minutes, the Ashington official finally brought an end to proceedings and Whitby go to Spennymoor on Easter Monday with their top 13 aspirations still intact.