Whitley Bay 1  Shildon 3
Saturday 10th December
 There was no disputing that league champions Shildon deserved to take the points from this game but they had to come from behind after Whitley took an early lead. Two first half penalties put the visitors in the driving seat before a deflected shot sealed victory for the Railwaymen.
Whitley were missing three influential players, with Ross Wilkinson and Andy Robertson both injured while Callum Anderson was a late withdrawal from the squad. On the plus side, Callum Patton and Adam Shanks were both back in the starting line up after missing the previous week’s game at Newcastle Benfield.
Whitley made the perfect start, going ahead inside the third minute. Capitalising on a lack of concentration in the Shildon defence, Alex Kempster played the ball across the edge of the 18 yard box to Chris Moore who was left completely unmarked and clinically slotted the ball past keeper Nick Liversedge. The visitors took a while to settle but were gifted a 14th minute equaliser when rather than clearing the ball from danger, Ryan Keltie opted to make a back pass to Tom Flynn. There was not quite enough pace on the ball and Michael Rae got to it just ahead of Flynn who brought the Shildon man down near the by-line, conceding a penalty. Billy Greulich-Smith levelled from the spot, driving the ball down the middle of the goal.
Two minutes later Whitley had the chance to regain the lead following a quickly taken throw in from Chris McDonald and with the Shildon defence all at sea, Tom Potter closed in and lobbed the ball over Liversedge but only into the side netting when he should really have found the target.
Whitley were breaking quickly from midfield and when Alex Kempster raced away down the left wing he was clumsily brought down by defender David Ferguson who was cautioned for the offence.
Shildon captain Daniel Moore brought a good save from Flynn around the half hour mark but when he burst forward again in the 36th minute, he was tripped inside the box by Nicky Allen and referee Mark Ryan awarded the visitors a second penalty, which Greulich-Smith again converted, this time placing the ball in the left corner of the net, to put his side in front. It was a lead they deserved and two minutes before the interval they might have gone further ahead but Purewal put a cross from Rae over the bar.
Early in the second half Whitley were forced into a substitution with the influential Alex Kempster unable to continue after picking up an ankle injury shortly before the interval. He was replaced by former Alnwick striker Liam Brooks, who was making his home debut. Flynn made an excellent save three minutes later, fisting clear a viciously swerving 25 yard shot from Lewis Wing.
The visitors were looking impressive across the pitch but Whitley were undeterred and on the hour, Shanks leapt to meet a cross from Moore but good defending deflected the goalbound header past the far post. Two minutes later, Liversedge had to race off his line to reach the ball just ahead of the onrushing Brooks. In the 64th minute, Whitley’s chances of getting back into the game took a severe blow when Wing’s cross from the left into the goalmouth took a huge deflection off Bay defender Callum Munro, wrong-footing Flynn and leaving him helpless as the ball flew into the net. It was an unlucky goal to concede and left Whitley deflated while Shildon grew in confidence. Five minutes later, Wing had a shot on target well saved by Flynn, who pushed the ball round the post.
Brooks worked hard and was putting pressure on the Shildon rearguard while Potter continued to threaten down the wing, but there was to be no way through a well organised and experienced defence and the visitors ran out worthy winners.
Among the positives for Whitley to take from the game was an impressive performance by midfielder David Hall on only his second start for the first team, and he was named h20 Bathrooms man of the match.
WHITLEY BAY: Flynn, Munro, McDonald, Hall, Keltie, Allen, Potter, Patton, Shanks(Cooper 86mins), Kempster(Brooks 48mins), Moore(Haley 64mins)
Referee: Mark Ryan
Caution: Keltie
Attendance: 303
Marc Nash felt there were many positives to take from the game but was disappointed with the mistakes that led to the two penalties. “This was an opportunity to see where we are at against a top side in the division. We were still missing three big players with Ross and Andy Robertson out injured and Callum Anderson withdrawing at late notice. However, I thought we were competitive throughout and got off to the perfect start with a great goal on the break. We needed to hold out longer and make them become edgy but a poor error has led to the penalty that got Shildon back into the game. We should really have gone back in front as Tom Potter needs to bury chances like the one that fell to him, especially against the top sides as chances are at a premium. Then another poor clearance has gifted them another penalty so we’ve basically handed them the advantage at half time which was disappointing.
I felt we were much better in the 2nd half especially after Liam Brooks came on. He gave us a focal point in attack and really unsettled their back four with his willing running. It seemed Shildon were getting deeper and deeper which tends to happen when you’re winning and we were pushing as well and in probably our best spell they knock the stuffing out of us with a deflected third goal. I was pleased we stuck at it though and showed some spirit but I’ve learnt a lot from the game in terms of where we are and what needs improving. I thought Shildon were very efficient and have that winning mentality which takes years to build. In time, we hope to close the gap on the top four with what we are doing here.â€
Match photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/mcqweb/albums
