Whitley Bay 2 Dunston UTS 1
Saturday 18th February
Bay fans have become used to dramatic late goals this season and once again they were treated to a last gasp winner, but this time it came from an extremely unlikely source with Callum Anderson heading home only his third goal in 269 appearances.
The game got off to the perfect start for Whitley when in the third minute, Kyle Patton broke away down the left and his ball across goal was played back into the path of Andy Robertson who cleverly slotted home from a tight angle past keeper Jack Norton.
Dunston gradually came into the game and after Warren Byrne drove the ball over the bar after ten minutes, a long range effort from Ryan Drane midway through the half flew well wide. Whitley had an excellent opportunity to double their lead with 38 minutes played, when Robertson set Alex Kempster clear but Norton did well to block the shot with his foot at the expense of a corner. Whitley retained their one goal advantage up to half time but after the break it took Dunston just five minutes to draw level. A foul on visiting captain Dale Burrell by Ross Wilkinson resulted in a penalty and Byrne slotted home the spot kick.
The goal seemed to spark Whitley back into life and after a shot from Charmey was blocked, Callum Patton went down in the box but the penalty claims were waved away. Keeping up the pressure, Charmey played the ball back across goal from the left by-line and Kyle Patton’s looping header hit the top of the bar.
With 20 minutes remaining, Dunston were awarded a second penalty, this time for an infringement by Callum Anderson on Liam Thear. Once again Byrne stepped up to take the spot kick but remembering where the first penalty had been placed Tom Flynn dived the right way and made a great double save to keep the ball out. This proved to be the crucial moment of the game as Dunston heads dropped and Whitley brought on Tom Potter and Liam Brooks to add pace and energy in the closing stages.
The move almost brought immediate reward when an excellent through ball played Brooks clear and from 22 yards his shot beat Norton but agonisingly crashed off the outside of the post and away from goal. A few minutes later, with Whitley now well on top, Kyle Patton appeared to be brought down in the box but referee Chris Keightley earned the wrath of Bay fans as he once again ignored their penalty appeals.
It was beginning to look as if Dunston would hold out despite the Bay pressure and two minutes from time, in a rare break downfield, they might have snatched victory but a first time effort from Drane flashed wide of goal.
Pushing more men forward, Whitley earned a corner in the third minute of stoppage time and Potter played the ball into the goalmouth where Anderson’s glancing header flew into the corner of the net to the delight of his team mates and the home fans.
With only seconds remaining, there was barely time for the game to restart before the final whistle signalled celebrations as Whitley deservedly claimed the three points and consolidated eighth position in the table.
Not surprisingly, Callum Anderson was named h2o Bathrooms man of the match.
WHITLEY BAY: Flynn, Gilbey, McDonald, Allen(Potter 71mins), Anderson, Wilkinson, K Patton(Glen-Ravenhill 84mins), C Patton, Robertson(Brooks 76mins), Charmey, Kempster
Substitute not used: Long
Referee: Chris Keightley
Cautions: None
Attendance: 347
Match photos here.
The thoughts of manager Marc Nash: “Reflecting on the game, I think we just about deserved the three points even though we produced another late show. We couldn’t have asked for a better start with Robbo’s great piece of skill and finish. I think scoring so early affected our intensity as we sat back too much and allowed Dunston far too much time and space in possession. They didn’t create much but there was no way we were going to see out 85 minutes doing that. Towards the end of the half we started to dictate and Kempster should have scored when he got in to face the keeper but it was a good save. We asked the players at half time to try and press the ball higher up the pitch to stop the service into their front players and we settled into that quite well but we go and shoot ourselves in the foot again losing possession in midfield and Ross has been hasty with his challenge which has led to yet another penalty. If anything, conceding the goal has woken us up and our intensity was back then Patton hit the bar as we were on top. The second penalty concession is a big disappointment as Callum needed to show patience but he’s dived in and fouled the lad but thankfully Tom has rescued us with a fine double save from the pen. That was a critical moment as it seemed to deflate Dunston and our tails were up knowing we’d just got off the hook. Last 20 minutes Dunston’s back line looked tired so we put an extra forward on in Tom Potter followed closely by Liam Brooks and the pair seemed to make the difference along with Kempster now playing through the centre. Liam hit the post with his first touch and was so unlucky but we kept knocking and we knew time was up when we got the corner so all we could do was hope for a quality delivery and we got one from Potter and it’s won the game. It was important to back the win up against Bishops and we’ve done that so now we want to keep momentum until the end of the season.”
