WHITLEY BAY 0 HEBBURN TOWN 9
Saturday 23rd February
Whitley suffered their heaviest ever defeat on a disastrous afternoon at Hillheads which ended with Mick Mulhern being relieved of his duties after just three months as manager.
Earlier in the season Whitley had produced a shock when they won 4-1 at Hebburn who were then league leaders, but the South Tynesiders were on top form in this game, repeatedly punishing woeful defending.
Eyebrows were raised when Whitley’s team was announced, with key defenders Callum Anderson, Luke Taylor and Lewis Walton all on the substitutes’ bench. Hebburn quickly asserted themselves and went ahead in the fifth minute when Michael Richardson played the ball through a gap in the Bay defence and Graeme Armstrong ran on to slide the ball under keeper Ross Logan.
Seven minutes later Olly Martin made a good run into the Hebburn box but his shot from 15 yards lacked the power to trouble keeper Andrew Jennison. The visitors doubled their lead in the 18th minute following an attack down the left. The ball was crossed into the box where Luke Sullivan turned and drove a first time shot into the far corner of the net. Three minutes later Logan pushed an effort from ex-Bay midfielder Lewis Suddick wide of the post while on the half hour, Peter Glen-Ravenhill was played through but his shot was blocked.
A dreadful spell before the interval then saw Whitley concede four goals in just seven minutes. In the 35th minute Sullivan converted from near the back post from a header across goal by Spence. Richardson made it 4-0 three minutes later after a right wing corner was not effectively defended then seconds later, Sullivan completed his hat trick when he had the simple task of knocking the ball over the line after Logan was unable to hold onto a high cross from the right. Three minutes later Sullivan added his fourth when he was left unmarked 20 yards out and cleverly lobbed Logan, giving the young keeper no chance. Redford then forced Jennison into a diving save to push a shot wide but Hebburn’s goal blitz left Whitley and their fans shell-shocked as the visitors ended the half leading 6-0.
It was a case of damage limitation for Whitley in the second half and a double substitution saw Anderson and Ramsey replace Caines and Redford. Eight minutes after the restart, a cross from the right was headed home by Hornets skipper Louis Storey for the seventh goal of the afternoon. Following a quiet period, Whitley’s day was summed up when Olly Martin drilled home from 12 yards moments after Andrei Ardelean had been tripped in the box. Referee Mark Ryan blew for a penalty just as Martin was seizing his chance, meaning that the goal did not count. Then, when Martin stepped forward to take the spot kick, his shot crashed off the inside of the post and away from goal. Seconds later, Hebburn broke away down field and when the ball was played to Richardson, he fired home with ease.
The biggest cheer of the afternoon came soon after when former Bay goal scoring legend Paul Chow came off the bench. Within six minutes, when a cross from the left was not cut out, he showed the predatory instinct for which he was famous in his Whitley days, nudging the ball home from a matter of inches. It was the final nail in the coffin as far as Whitley were concerned and the goal made it their heaviest ever defeat.
WHITLEY BAY: Logan, McFarlane, Cooper, Christensen, Hassan, Caines(Anderson 46mins), Glen-Ravenhill, R Redford(Ramsey 46mins), Ardelean(Brannen 69mins), Wright, Martin
Substitutes not used: Taylor, Walton.
Caution: Wright
Attendance: 286
Referee: Mark Ryan
