19th November 2003

Attendance - 161

Team - Campbell, Obern, Gildea(Veart 75), Reed, Hall, Dixon, Linighan, Robinson, Ormerod(McTiernan 75), Ure, Nicholson(Swales 77).

Report - by Andrew Snaith - Whitby Town blasted six for the first time in over a year, to seal a place in the quarter-finals of the Unibond League Cup in Lee Ure’s farewell game on Saturday.
161 loyal supporters braved the heavy rain at the Turnbull Ground and were rewarded with eight well-taken goals in an exciting roses cup clash. A brace for Ure saw him go out with a bang, there were also two goals for Scott Nicholson who has now netted four goals in his last five matches. One each for Anthony Omerod and Alex Gildea completed the rout. The Blues welcomed back defenders Ben Dixon and Tony Hall, who were rested for the 3-0 victory at Thornaby which seems so long ago. Left sided midfielder Craig Veart dropped to the bench, with on-loan striker Mark Sheeran departing to kick his heels in Darlington Reserves.

The visitors, fresh from a terrible run of conceding 19 in their last four matches, couldn’t have made a worse start. There were just seconds on the clock when Ormerod burst into the Radcliffe box only to fire against the post, but man of the moment, Ure was on hand to tap home the rebound from point blank range.

The visitors had a golden chance to equalise just two minutes later when Simon Carden was upended just outside the Whitby box. Former Rotherham midfielder Karl Marginson then hammered the resulting free-kick against the Blues’ crossbar, with the loose ball booted clear by the relieved home defence.

On 25 minutes, Marginson’s angled drive skipped across the Seasiders’ six yard box and just wide of Dave Campbell’s far post. Six minutes before the break, Whitby stole a second goal after Tony Hall rose well to beat keeper Hurst to Veart’s corner, with the loose ball falling for Nicholson to rifle home from point blank range. The visitors then came agonisingly close to getting back in the game three minutes later, when Carden’s awkward skidding drive squirmed out of Campbell’s gloves, only for the Whitby keeper to clutch the wet ball at the second attempt as White lurked.

The second half was a much more open affair and produced some superb football in difficult conditions. Within three minutes, Campbell was forced into a brilliant reaction save to tip over Kelvin White’s 22 yard piledriver. However, Borough soon had their goal when Simon Kelly had the freedom of Upgang Lane to head home the resulting corner effortlessly at the near post. But there was no stopping Ure who blitzed down the right flank four minutes later to tee up Ormerod for a neat 10 yard volley which finished in the bottom right corner of the Radcliffe net.

The visitors were lucky to keep eleven men on the field on 58 minutes after Carden kicked out at Nicholson after a strong sliding challenge from the Whitby number eleven. Nicholson slid in on the former Stockport midfielder, who reacted by bringing his leg down on Nicholson’s head Hulk Hogan style as both men lay on the ground. A minor shoving match ensued between several players from both sides, but the referee took the easy way out by booking Nicholson, but failing to punish anyone else.

The injustice was quickly forgotten though, as Ormerod returned Ure’s earlier assist by crossing for last season’s top scorer to net his second of the afternoon and Whitby’s fourth. But Borough hadn’t given up the ghost and within a minute, had themselves a penalty when Adam Reed chopped James Price to the ground inside the Whitby box. Gary Sampson stepped up to take the penalty, but the resulting effort threatened the hotels on the North Promenade more than the back of Campbell’s net as it flew towards off towards the West Cliff.

Five minutes later, Gildea put the result beyond doubt, creating a goal from nothing with a mazy run through the middle of the Radcliffe defence and a stone-cold left foot drive into the bottom right corner of Hurst’s net made it 5-1.

The plucky Mancunians weren’t giving up and netted seconds later when White spotted Campbell had strayed off his line and chipped home perfectly from 35 yards into the bemused keeper’s empty net. Campbell did well to turn Price’s goalbound drive wide on 73 minutes as the entertainment continued for the few in attendance.

The sparse but enthusiastic crowd then warmly applauded Ormerod and Gildea from the field as a double substitution saw Veart and fellow midfielder Dave McTiernan join the action.

Within two minutes it was 6-2 when full-back Mark Obern float over a pinpoint right-wing cross for Nicholson to nod emphatically home from close range.

"Are you Scarborough in disguise?" came the question from the home faithful to the weary Radcliffe side. Nicholson made way for Mark Swales on 81 minutes, and minutes later, Borough almost made way for McTiernan to add Whitby’s seventh- only for the woodwork to strike again, as the youngster’s determined run and shot came back off the post.

Whitby kept pressing right to the end with Ure, a constant threat down the right, twice unselfishly setting up team-mates to strike wide of the target. The final whistle blew, and while Ure couldn’t quite bag a hat-trick, he can be well satisfied as he took a bow and the cheers of the home support, alongside his fellow Blues.
The question is how do Whitby replace him?