UniBond Premier Division

12th April 2004

Attendance - 214

Team - D Campbell, Reed(Johnson 26), Veart, Linighan, Hall, Dixon, McTiernan, A Gildea, Nicholson, Sheeran, P Campbell. Subs not used: L Gildea, Williams

Report - Two goals in two minutes from local rivals Spennymoor in County Durham on Easter Monday mean only maximum points and a great deal of luck can carry Whitby to automatic Conference North promotion.
The Blues are now almost certain to enter the end of season play-offs for the final promotion place with teams around them having several games in hand on Harry Dunn’s side.
Dunn made two changes to the side that scraped past Frickley on Saturday, with ex-Darlington duo Adam Reed and Mark Sheeran replacing unlucky youngsters Liam Gildea and Steve Johnson.
In the County Durham sunshine, the match began cagily, as Whitby visited the Brewery Field for the first time since November 2000, keen to follow-up from Boxing Day’s 1-0 victory over former manager Tony Lee’s Moors side.
Paul Campbell hit a speculative 25 yard effort on ten minutes, before a succession of Whitby corners culminated in Scott Nicholson’s powerful header being deflected wide.
Alex Gildea and Nicholson shot wide from distance before Adam Reed hobbled off on 26 minutes with Johnson coming on, and Nicholson, who’d started up front, replacing Reed at the back.
Spennymoor’s only chance of the first half would’ve seen them break the deadlock on the half hour but for a brilliant reaction save by Dave Campbell from Andrew Brown’s point-blank bullet header.
Just before the break, Whitby had their best chance when Sheeran’s skill saw him skip into the Moors area but his low drilled shot eluded everyone as it flew across the six yard box.
The second half saw the home side first out of the blocks with Preen having a speculative effort from distance comfortably caught by Campbell, with his opposite number Liam Sutcliffe smothering Ben Dixon’s low 20 yard drive.
However, Campbell wasn’t nearly as confident on 56 minutes when his attempted punch clear from Agbatar’s corner struck Neal Bishop’s midrift and flew into the back of the net.
Danny Brunskill then caught the Whitby defence completely flatfooted moments later as he released Brown to race clear and slot clinically past Campbell from close range for 2-0.
Bishop found himself in the book on the hour after a poorly timed slide challenge left Whitby keeper Dave Campbell prostrate on the ground. After a five minute hold-up in play, the Blues surged to the other end and should’ve pulled a goal back when Sheeran’s header was parried by Sutcliffe and Paul Campbell’s point blank poke goalwards was somehow deflected over the Moors crossbar.
Bishop then came close to putting the result beyond doubt when his vicious 30 yard free-kick was spilled by Campbell, and Tony Hall was forced to hack clear. Within seconds, McTiernan’s right wing cross was headed wide by Paul Campbell after good work from Sheeran.
Brunskill hooked over the top for Spenymoor off balance on 75 minutes, before Nicholson’s header was caught on his own line by Sutcliffe and Dixon’s excellent run and drive over kept Whitby fans interested.
However, in truth, the Blues never really looked like scoring- Johnson looped a difficult chance over with his back to goal on 85 minutes before Nicholson’s audacious 35 yard chip forward cleared Sutcliffe’s crossbar by millimetres with the keeper back-pedalling.
The final whistle not only signalled the end of the match but also the probable end of any lingering hopes of automatic promotion for Harry Dunn’s men whose tameness in front of goal and lack of ideas meant for more consistent inconsistencies.