UniBond Premier Division

18th March 2006

Attendance - 91

Team - Escritt, Brumwell, Richards, Farthing, Wilford, Yalcin, Ormerod, Nicholson, Raw (McTiernan 22), Brunskill, Batchelor (Barber 89). Sub Not Used: Atkinson.

Report - Whitby Town achieved their first away league win since October but almost frittered away a 3-0 lead in a tense finish in West Yorkshire on Saturday. Hosts Wakefield-Emley would have leap-frogged the Blues in the league table with a victory, but instead, David Logan’s side kept alive their faint play-off hopes but continue to trail fellow 3-2 victors Farsley Celtic by 13 points, with three games in hand.

The Seasiders gave a debut to 20-year-old former Turkey youth international midfielder Lev Yalcin in one of five changes to the side that went down 4-2 at Ashton United in the Blues’ last match, three weeks earlier. Goalkeeper Ben Escritt and striker Tom Raw returned from injury, Aron Wilford recovered from tonsillitis and on-loan Chris Batchelor was also recalled after a brief return to Conference strugglers Scarborough. Boro reclaimed fellow loanee- forward Ryan Blott, with Dave McTiernan and Paul Atkinson dropping to the bench, and veterans David Campbell and Craig Veart relegated to the sparsely populated Belle Vue stands.

And it was one of the returning men who missed a great chance to put Whitby ahead inside the opening five minutes. 13-goal Danny Brunskill escaped the static Emley offside trap and headed on for Raw to fire straight at ex-Scarborough goalkeeper Andy Woods from six yards. It was to be Raw’s last contribution, as his injury agony continued- the long-term hamstring strain which has plagued the 22-year-old’s season returning once again and McTiernan replaced the local lad on 20 minutes.

Bad fortune then struck Raw’s strike partner Brunskill with the prolific forward booked for a late challenge on Dave Watts, with one of the hosts’ number exacting revenge as ‘Bruno’ spat blood from his mouth for much of the game following an aerial challenge.

Simon Wood then came close for the Pewitts with what looked a speculative attemped lob from against the touchline 30 yards from goal, which in the end just cleared Escritt’s crossbar with the young keeper back-pedalling.

Despite the warning shot, it looked as though Town had found the breakthrough on 38 minutes when Yalcin headed on for Ant Ormerod to race clear. The former Middlesbrough forward struck what looked a goal-bound effort across Woods, only for the 30-year-old to pull off an astonishing reflex save and push the ball wide.

Yalcin chipped wide from a good position before Whitby’s dominance was rewarded with the opening goal a minute from the break. McTiernan’s deep cross was headed on by Scott Nicholson for Aron Wilford to regain the Town top scorer’s tag, nodding home his 14th of the season despite a desperate last-ditch goal-line clearance- referee Mr Wilson checking with his nearest assistant before awarding the goal.

Early in the second half, Ormerod again found himself one on one with Woods, but this time the former England Youth International had no-one to blame but himself after firing rashly into the side netting from close range.

The frenetic opening to the second period continued and once again the hosts afforded too much space to a Whitby player, with Nicholson this time making no mistake to shrug off Mick Norbury’s close attentions and force home off-balance from ten yards for 2-0.

The home side should’ve reduced the arrears on the hour mark after Dave Watts’ header from former York midfielder Christian Fox’s corner was well tipped over by Escritt and moments later, an unconvincing effort from point blank range was shinned well over the Whitby bar by long-serving skipper Rob Tonks.

And despite never getting out of second gear, Whitby looked to have put the result beyond doubt on 72 minutes with a superb solo goal from the irrepressible Brunskill. The man known as ‘Bruno’ to supporters collected a loose ball on the halfway line, powering his long legs goalward, leaving Emley defenders trailing in his wake before bursting into the area and side-footing past Woods from 12 yards.

The Blues could even have made it 4-0 moments later, when Brunskill turned swiftly and fired against Woods’ left hand post inside a crowded Emley penalty area, and Batchelor’s follow-up was brilliantly parried wide by the England Semi-Pro keeper.

Eight minutes from time, as the match became increasingly bad-tempered, McTiernan became the suprise candidate to receive a red card after reacting to Paul Staniforth’s late lunging challenge by the touchline with a headbutt. And although Staniforth received his second yellow to even the numbers, Whitby lost concentration and soon gifted the hosts a route back into the game.

On 88 minutes, Wood’s free-kick was flicked on for the unmarked Matthew Hoyle to poke home from point blank range. Even so, there was nothing more than mild disappointment from Whitby supporters before Emley forced a tense period of injury time when substitute Lenny Curtis reacted quickly following indecision from Escritt to notch a quickfire second moments later.

The three minutes of added time saw the hosts threaten as much as in the previous 90, with Escritt fortunate to grab a free-kick after suffering a much less innocuous challenge than that which preceded Bradford’s infamous equaliser at the Turnbull Ground last month. However, as much as the men in claret and blue huffed and puffed with constant possession in the Whitby area, the nearest they came to a shock equaliser was Richard Whitfield’s tame shot wide from the angle of the box.

In summary, while 3-2 flattered the home side who were as disappointing as the double-figure crowd at the grandly-named Atlantic Solutions Stadium, Whitby were far too sluggish at times and 3-0 would have also failed to tell the whole story. For Dave Logan’s side, barring the horror show of the closing minutes, Escritt put in another solid display, with Yalcin’s first-half passing display showing plenty of promise and Brunskill once again illustrating his class with another virtuoso strike to once again join Wilford at the top of the Blues’ scoring charts with 14. Ominously, Wednesday’s visitors Gateshead ended a run of six winless matches with a shock 2-1 win at title-chasing Frickley Athletic over the weekend and Town will need to improve if the play-off flame is to be reignited in the coming weeks.