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11th August 2007

Attendance -

Team - Whitby Town: Debbage, Hardman, Janes, Appleby, Hartas, Harmsworth, Thornton, A Raw, Nogan, Brandon, Charlton. Subs: Newton, Wilson, Shabani. Not used: Campbell.

Report - by Andrew Snaith - Whitby have failed to win a single pre-season game after a home defeat to Unibond First Division North Wakefield on Saturday.

In a quiet opening, Graham Marchant sidefooted wide for the visitors from 12 yards with 16 minutes on the clock.

Whitby's best spell came just after the half hour with a string of chances coming and going over a five minute period. First, Karl Charlton's header forced Wakefield keeper Jamie Tymon to tip the ball over the bar, Tymon then caught Andy Raw's powerful 25 yard effort at the second attempt. Within seconds, skipper Matty Appleby's corner was headed well wide by Alex Janes and as Whitby kept up the pressure, a fine build up involving new signing Darren Thornton and trialist Darren Brandon, allowed player-manager Lee Nogan to execute a neat lob from the edge of the area which Tymon palmed over at full stretch.

It was ironic then that the away side grabbed the lead three minutes later. A neat ball through released former Leeds United striker Chris Howarth who made no mistake in finding the bottom-right corner of the net from 12 yards.

The West Yorkshire club finished the half strongly with Delroy Ferguson cutting in from the right flank but hammering well wide with his left-foot, and Marchant forced Whitby keeper James Debbage to parry well at his near post.

Town introduced another trialist in midfielder Gary Newton from York, and 17-year-old Whitby youth striker Henrik Shabani at the interval.

Nine minutes into the second period, a resurgent Whitby threatened when Nogan fired just over the top from all of 30 yards.

However, the Blues nearly threw things away within three minutes when young centre-half Dave Hartas' error let in Andy Shields, but the former Farsley Celtic stalwart sidefooted wide from close range.

The Seasiders battled back and deservedly levelled on 62 minutes when a timely through-ball found the tricky Brandon, who finished calmly for the equaliser.

Newton's first time shot from 22 yards was just wide, and as Town looked the brighter side, Shabani popped up at the near post and steered a ferocious shot across the face of goal and wide from a tight angle.

But a minute from time, a drilled cross from the left bounced awkwardly in front of Town's young backline and popped up invitingly for Demi Kyriacou to slam home from the edge of the area.

Late on, Wes Milnes could've put the icing on the cake for Wakefield but headed high and wide when well placed.

Blues boss Nogan was struggling to take positives out of the game: "We were slow out of the blocks first half", the former Reading marksman added, "but were better in the second half. We can't take chances at the back and we need to learn from our mistakes."

Despite admitting preparations for the new season had been disrupted by a string of injuries, the Whitby manager insisted that with quality players to return, things would "be fine". Forwards Anthony Ormerod and Tony Hackworth are expected to be back in contention after being rested following mild injuries in midweek.

Nogan will assess the fitness of his squad this week, and work on set pieces and Town's pattern of play in training ahead of Saturday's opener with Buxton. The Blues supremo said lively forward Sonny Andrews, who was away on holiday at the weekend, "has a part to play" though added he was always on the look out for new players even at this stage.