UniBond Premier

16th September 2009

Attendance - 436

Team - Campbell(Woodhead 34), Hassan, Lyth, Ingram(Close 54), Burgess, Leeson, L Gildea, Beadle, Brunskill(Ormerod 77), A Gildea, Charlton. Subs not used: Blott, Dalton.

Report - by Andrew Snaith - Pindar College Maths teacher Jimmy Beadle had the perfect formula five minutes from time to grab a Whitby point, in front of nearly 200 of his specially invited pupils at the Turnbull Ground on Wednesday night.

Blues manager Harry Dunn made three changes from the side that won 1-0 at coastal rivals Bridlington on Saturday. Local lad Ashley Lyth took the captain's armband in the absence of suspended skipper Tony Hackworth, while brothers Alex and Liam Gildea started alongside debutant defender Andrew Leeson, signed from Blyth two days earlier.

And it was younger brother Liam who should've done better right from the start when good work from Karl Charlton set up Saturday's goalscorer, who was caught between heading and kicking, eventually missing out with a raised boot.

At the other end, Ross Hardaker's speculative looping effort from the edge of the area dropped comfortably wide of home goalie Dave Campbell's left hand post. Whitby came close again when Gildea latched onto a long ball, with Ossett keeper Liam Sutcliffe caught in two minds, the forward laid back for Ibrahim Hassan to strike a first-time side volley from the edge of the area, high over the crossbar.

The bumper home crowd were then treated to a rare spectacle on 34 minutes when the hosts changed goalkeepers. Campbell, making his 395th appearance for the Seasiders, left the field holding the top of his leg, and was replaced by Tom Woodhead on his return from a broken nose. And perhaps the youngster's previous injury prayed on his mind as he dropped a long ball seconds later, and was highly relieved when Andy Lee fired well wide on the turn from point blank range.

Nine minutes into the second half, Whitby lost another experienced player at the back when Denny Ingram, presumably feeling the effects of a dead leg sustained against Bridlington, limped off to be replaced by Brian Close. After a frustrating game of few chances, it seemed the Blues would finally break the deadlock three minutes later when Charlton broke on the left edge of the Ossett box. However, the pacey youngster drilled a low, angled drive straight at Sutcliffe, who smothered well.

So it came as some suprise when the West Yorkshire visitors took the lead and silenced the crowd on 59 minutes. It was Adam Clayton, the Reds' late-goal hero at Matlock recently who exchanged passes in the Whitby area, getting in-between a static defence and poking past Woodhead from close range.

Clayton could even have doubled his tally seconds later when he rose highest at the far post from a left-sided corner but could only direct his header straight at Woodhead. Sutcliffe was not as solid as his opposite number moments later at the other end. Alex Gildea applied pressure and dispossessed the gloveman, but chipped inches wide from an acute angle.

The elder Gildea then more than redeemed himself when on the defensive, throwing himself in front of a goalbound shot to clear off his own goal line. As on Saturday, the turning point came with the third and final Whitby change- former Middlesbrough star Anthony Ormerod replaced the quiet Danny Brunskill up front and made an immediate impact.

Dropping off behind Charlton and Liam Gildea, he was rarely out of the game in the final 13 minutes. First, he was unlucky to see a dangerous 20-yard drive deflected inches wide, but then, he created the elusive Whitby goal in simple fashion.

Controlling the ball some 25 yards from goal, he ran to the byline, holding possession until a target arrived in the box, before picking out Beadle with a neat chip cross that the midfielder nodded emphatically past a helpless Sutcliffe. And to ensure few of his students will be taught much Maths in the morning, the former York City man even went on to pick up his side's man of the match award.