4th October 2003

Attendance - 304

Team - Clementson, Betts, Williams, Hall, Linighan, Dixon, Campbell, Ure(Robinson 52), Ormerod, Burt, Veart. Subs not used: O’Bern, Swales.

Report - By Andrew Snaith - Whitby’s recent resurgence blew away with the freezing October wind on a very Autumnal Saturday afternoon at the Turnbull Ground. The Blues probably still have no idea how they lost a game they dominated from start to finish. Second half goals from Kenny Mayers and Colin Potts were enough to clinch victory for the visiting Mancunians. Harry Dunn was without the suspended Adam Reed, with fellow defender Ben Dixon, who missed Tuesday night’s heated draw with Blyth while stuck in traffic, returning to take the captain’s armband.
Whitby started purposely, winning a free-kick inside the first minute. Craig Veart slid the kick low across the Celtic box where Burt’s neat touch was deflected over the Stalybridge bar.
On six minutes, Graeme Williams’ opportunist 25 yard piledriver was tipped wide by Stalybridge stopper Craig Dootson at full stretch as it headed for the top right corner of the Bridge net. Four minutes later, Jamie Burt found himself in the clear some 20 yards out but seeing little support he opted for a shot from a near impossible angle with the ball flying past Dootson’s near post.
Whitby continued to have virtually all the play but couldn’t quite get close enough to carve out a real goalscoring opportunity. Lee Ure caught a speculative effort well with his left foot from just inside the right touchline, 20 yards out but Dootson also caught well, clutching the ball with ease.
At the other end, Wharton’s left foot volley from all of 25 yards was palmed round his left hand post by Whitby keeper Adam Clementson. Five minutes later, Clementson made another good save, this time blocking Potts goalbound effort from point blank range.
Some neat interplay between Paul Campbell and Veart saw the Blues’ top scorer break into the Celtic box but Dootson was again alert to the danger and did well to collect.
The visitors threatened once more just before the break when Gregg Pearce’s lofted header almost caught out Clementson who just about clawed the swirling ball wide in the midst of a difficult galeforce wind.
The scoresheet was blank at half-time, though Whitby had much of the play and fashioned the odd chance, the Bridge defence held out well with the composed Dootson a big factor in their success.
Within seconds of the restart, Ure broke down the right flank and flew towards the Celtic box only to pull an 18 yard effort right across goal and wide of Dootson’s right hand post. Moments later, players from both sides clashed after a cynical foul from Stalybridge’s Steve Foster on Veart. The Whitby man appeared to retaliate and several more players joined in with some minor pushing and shoving. Referee Mr Thornton took the easy way out and booked both Foster and Veart for their misdemeanours.
Five minutes later, Harry Dunn took off Ure, who appeared to have pulled a muscle just after the melee ensued- experienced South African forward Graham Robinson was his replacement.
The visitors seemed to relish the increasingly physical contest and took the lead just after the hour. From a seemingly innocuous position, Bridge attacked down the Whitby left with Simon Betts missing a slide challenge and Veart out of position, Potts’ low cross was cheekily flicked home from close range by the unmarked Kenny Mayers.
Whitby nearly levelled the scores right from the kick off as Robinson chased a likely lost cause down the left only to beat Todd and whip in a pinpoint cross to the far post where Anthony Ormerod’s powerful header was somehow turned wide by Dootson.
The resulting Veart corner was met by Burt whose deflected shot was headed off the line by Bridge defender Terry Bowker. The referee was rapidly losing control of the match as the visitors’ heavy-handed style saw two more mass brawls with Ormerod and Tony Hall booked for violent conduct after Bridge’s Nathan Wharton had rugby-tackled Ormerod to the ground on the far side of the ground.
Later, Brian Linighan’s crunching slide challenge saw Bridge’s Darren Bowman stretchered from the field. Whitby’s former Sheffield Wednesday defender earned himself a booking, while his opponent took a trip downtown in an ambulance.
In the final five minutes, Dootson again earned his wage packet, tipping over Robinson’s goalbound flick header. Moments later, Ormerod’s drive was charged down and Williams’ follow up struck Robinson in the crowded Stalybridge goalmouth. The 88th minute saw Hall head over Veart’s corner- it was notable to see the amount of Whitby shirts being pulled by the visiting defence- the clueless officials remained oblivious to the supposed infringement of the rules.
And right before the end as so often happens, Stalybridge conjured up a second goal when Colin Potts took a 20 yard free-kick quickly and neatly bent the ball over the wall and into the bottom left corner of the Whitby net with Clementson well beaten.
Former British Universities goalkeeper Dootson pulled off some excellent stops to keep the home side at bay and his team in the match, referee Mr Thornton and his two assistants also combined well to frustrate Harry Dunn and his team.
The Blues certainly didn’t let anyone down and I’d encourage who can make it to attend tomorrow night’s North Yorkshire derby with another physical team in Harrogate Town at the Turnbull Ground. The Seasiders certainly don’t deserve their poor home record and hopefully it’ll be blown out of the water before Saturday’s important cup voyage to Warrington.