UniBond Premier Division

6th March 2004

Attendance - 469

Team - Campbell, McTiernan, Bossey, Dixon, Williams, Linighan, Gildea (Alex), Veart, Ormerod, Robinson. Subs: Nicholson, Gildea (Danny), Gildea (Liam)

Report - tWith three brothers in the squad, Whitby showed plenty of kindred spirit to pull off a great away win at Stalybridge on Saturday.
The blues made the trop to Manchester with manager Harry Dunn relieved to be able to call upon youngster Andy Appleby, Brian Linighan and Alex Gildea to bolster his stretched resources. And with Alex’s brothers Liam and Danny on the bench, it proved a real family affair for the Gildeas.
However, Whitby struggled early on with Celtic dominating possession and the lively front two of Kenny Mayers and Chris Denham proving a handful for Linighan and Ben Dixon.
Denham cut in from the left in the ninth minute only to shoot wide and then two minutes later the same player forced and excellent blocking save from Whitby goalkeeper Dave Campbell.
On 13 minutes, in Whitby’s first attack, Anthony Ormerod found Appleby who turned well but shot over from close range.
Whitby then had a huge let-off when Campbell allowed a speculative shot to bounce off his chest, the ball falling straight to Ian Monk who somehow volleyed over from six yards. Minutes later Mayers fed Denham who shot wide when through on Campbell.
Whitby took the lead in the 19th minute when Graham Williams’ long free kick was knocked on by Ormerod to Appleby who turned Barrie Keeling and shot home from 12 yards.
Whitby’s confidence was immediately lifted and with Graham Robinson and Fabien Bossy beginning to get to grips with the Celtic midfield Craig Veart was able to apply his passing game to great effect. On 34 minutes, from deep in his own half, Veart found Appleby out on the wide left. The youngster brilliantly turned Keeling and set off at the heart of the Celtic defence.
A weak challenge from Ben Smith was easily avoided and as the defence retreated Appleby let fly from the edge of the area, finding the top left hand corner and giving keeper Andy Ralph no chance.
Celtic heads immediately dropped as Whitby eased into half-time 2-0 up.
The expected early onslaught from Celtic never arrived and Whitby should have gone three up when Robinson fed Ormerod but the Whitby striker could only find the side netting.
Celtic’s reply was immediate and Denham cut in from the right and clipped the top of the Whitby bar with a fierce cross shot. On 66 minutes Ormerod again fed Appleby but his shot was well blocked by Ralph.
Stalybridge’s frustration finally boiled over on 68 minutes when a two-footed tackle on Veart by Ross Clegg brought a second yellow card for the midfielder and reduced Celtic to 10 men.
Whitby brought on Scott Nicholson in the 75th minute. He took Ormerod’s place upfront, with the striker moving to midfield to replace substituted David McTiernan. Just as Whitby seemed to be coasting Celtic grabbed a lifeline in the 81st minute when the impressive Colin Potts cut inside Gildea and Veart before crossing for the unmarked Monk to head home from close range.
Celtic sensed all was not lost and in the 84th minute a carbon copy move by Potts resulted in his cross being scrambled behind by Linighan.
As Celtic powered forward Whitby secured the win in the 89th minute when an excellent cross by Williams was not properly dealt with and Nicholson volleyed home from close range. Whitby nearly grabbed a fourth in stoppage time when a delightful