Friendly

14th August 2004

Attendance -

Whitby Town: Escritt, Jackson, Veart, Atkinson, Obern, Farthing, Campbell, Yale, Ormerod, McTiernan, L Gildea. Subs: A Gildea, Johnson

Report - by Andrew Snaith - On a stiflingly hot day in East Yorkshire, Whitby had just 13 players available for their final pre-season match before next week’s Unibond League kick-off.

Understandably the opening 25 minutes were as sedate as the wedding further down Church Road, and only the 3.17 Arriva Trains service to Hull Central showed any pace down the flanks.

Ferriby had the lion’s share of possession and the ball seemed glued to the Whitby half, but chances were few and far between. Only a few wild efforts from distance and tame headers summed up the home side’s efforts. Harry Dunn’s side, without Graham Robinson, Danny Mellanby(playing at Crook Town), Graham Williams, Brian Linighan and Scott Nicholson, were happy to attack on the break but didn’t test ex-Blues keeper Paul Sharp until beyond the half-hour mark.

The referee had suspended play for both sides to get a much-needed drink before Whitby finally took a hold of the game. On 35 minutes, Anthony Ormerod seized on Danny Moore’s weak backpass to round Sharp before landing on the ground. Referee Mr Elliott had no interest in awarding a penalty and the subsequent cross was cleared. The Seasiders kept up the pressure with Craig Veart’s well–struck 30 yard free-kick brilliantly tipped wide at full-stretch by Sharp.

From the resulting corner, Paul Campbell’s close-range downward header was somehow kept off the line via Joel Hartley’s right thigh. But the Blues did find the net within seconds as McTiernan had plenty of time to control Ormerod’s cross and rifle under Sharp from six yards.

The half-time break saw Whitby introduce speedy striker Steve Johnson and combative midfielder Alex Gildea for Campbell and Ormerod. However, within three minutes the home side were level. Early pressure saw the Unibond First Division side win a corner and skipper Paul Farley was given plenty of space to head emphatically past Ben Escritt for the leveller- once again highlighting the Blues frailties when defending set pieces.

A further three minutes passed before Ferriby threatened again, this time Escritt did well to claw the ball away from Carl Fothergill’s feet and Veart hacked the ball clear off his own line after a goalmouth scramble.

Just as the Blues dominated the last 15 minutes of the first half, the hosts were monopolising matters at the start of the second. Escritt saved well from Hartley’s speculative 25-yard effort and Gary Bradshaw was unlucky to see his cool finish from a neat move ruled offside.

However, Ferriby persevered and got their reward on 58 minutes. Fothergill collected the ball unchallenged some 25 yards out and calmly picked out the top right corner of Escritt’s net with breathtaking accuracy to put the hosts ahead. Bradshaw again came close, heading wide from a good position as indecision again ruled in the Whitby defence.

At the other end, McTiernan finally beat the offside trap but rolled his low cross-shot narrowly wide. In the same move, Johnson pulled up and ominously limped off- the former Stokesley man was to take no further part in the game. Gildea then volleyed wide from close range after a neat cross from the re-introduced Ormerod. Liam Gildea then saw his goalbound angled drive deflected narrowly over the Ferriby bar after a neat move as Whitby pushed men forward on 85 minutes. The home side could’ve grabbed a third, a minute later but Andy Thompson hammered wide after Hartley left Neil Jackson trailing in his wake.

Harry Dunn may well have finished this game with more unsolved problems than when he started it. Hopefully, the returnees missing from Saturday’s game will inspire a much-improved showing this weekend at Lincoln as the Blues look for a winning start to the 2004-05 Unibond Premier Division season.