WHITLEY BAY 1 BISHOP AUCKLAND 4
Saturday 29th September
Whitley ended up well beaten after a disappointing performance when they suffered the rare misfortune of having to use three different goalkeepers. Tom Flynn was forced to leave the field after 20 minutes with a groin injury and his replacement, Liam Powell limped off before half time, so outfield player Luke Salmon donned the keeper’s gloves for the remainder of the game. If that was not enough bad luck, Whitley had been forced into a late change when Dan Taggart pulled up during the pre-match warm up and had to replaced in the starting eleven by Stephen Ramsey.
Now managed by former Bay legend Ian Chandler, Bishops had several ex-Whitley players in their ranks and it was one of these, Kyle Fryatt, who gave the visitors an eighth minute lead when he used his pace to burst clear on the right before clipping the ball beyond Flynn and into the far corner of the net.
Whitley responded with Luke Salmon getting a low shot on target but Liversedge saved at his near post. A neat turn just outside the right edge of the box by Jack Foalle wrong-footed his marker but his cross was cleared. A 25 yard free kick by Ben Richardson whistled narrowly past the post and as Whitley continued to press for an equaliser, Salmon was tripped inches outside the box but once again Richardson’s free kick was just off target. Frustratingly, they were failing to test the visiting keeper and as at Whickham two weeks earlier, there were too many misplaced passes in midfield which meant promising moves repeatedly broke down. At times they looked vulnerable to pace with the speed of Fryatt in particular causing problems at the back.
With just 20 minutes played, Whitley were forced into their first substitution with Powell replacing Flynn in goal for only his second appearance since arriving in the summer. Salmon tried his luck from outside the box but Liversedge was untroubled. Just before the half hour, Kyle Patton burst through on goal and when Powell raced out to block the ball, the two players collided. The former Whitley youngster received lengthy treatment but was unable to continue and it was yet another figure familiar to Bay fans, Chris Salmon, who replaced him. After 38 minutes, Bishops striker Chris Winn was gifted a free header but directed the ball straight at the grateful Powell. That was the teenage keeper’s last action as he too was unable to continue having failed to recover from a knee injury suffered in the earlier collision. With no other recognised goalkeeper available, Luke Salmon, who had been used as a substitute keeper in a pre-season game at Heaton Stannington, took over in goal. Bishops were quick to test Bay’s third keeper and he responded impressively, making a point blank save from Winn after keeping out an attempt from Galbraith.
During six minutes of added time at the end of the half, Stephen Ramsey put the ball wide from Foalle’s cross while at the other end, a fierce shot from Fryatt took a deflection and flew over the bar. There was only one goal separating the sides at the interval but Bishops had looked the livelier and deserved their lead.
Two minutes after the restart a shot from Richardson was deflected wide while in the visitors’ first attack, Ryder drove a shot straight at Salmon who saved confidently. In the 54th minute, Liam Gillesphey, who was making his full Bay debut, spotted Liversedge off his line and tried his luck from just outside the centre circle but playing into the strong breeze, his shot drifted wide. One minute later Gillesphey was more effective when he played a ball through the Bishops defence and Foalle seized his chance to fire past the keeper from 12 yards to level the score. The goal sparked Whitley into a brief period of attacking play when they put the visitors under more pressure than at any other stage of the game. However, the optimism lasted barely six minutes as just past the hour, a ball played to the back post by Hoganson was tapped home by Ryder to put Bishops back in front. Salmon then produced a fine save, pushing over a shot from Callum Patton. Whitley were close to snatching a second equaliser a minute later when Foalle’s deep cross reached substitute Olly Martin but his effort was put behind at the back post. An attempt from Ramsey was then blocked before Bishops capitalised on the windy conditions with a long ball down the left wing which eventually reached sub Andrew Johnson and the experienced striker beat Salmon, effectively putting the game beyond Whitley.
Ten minutes later, Patton broke through the Bay defence and seemed set to score but as Salmon advanced off his line, he unselfishly squared the ball to Johnson for a simple tap in to make it 4-1. Into another lengthy period of stoppage time, the emergency Bay keeper made one more good save, pushing a shot from Fryatt round the post.
The games get no easier with tough trips to Sunderland RCA and Hebburn coming up in the next seven days and Whitley really need to rediscover the form they produced during their impressive FA Cup run.
WHITLEY BAY: Flynn(Powell 20mins) (Martin 40mins), McFarlane, Walton, Richardson, Caines, Christensen, Glen-Ravenhill, Gillesphey(Carr 73mins), Ramsey, Foalle, Salmon
Subs not used: A Redford, Brannen
Caution: Ramsey
Attendance: 334
Referee: James Westgate
