NORTHERN LEAGUE CUP GROUP H
WHITLEY BAY 6 BIRTLEY TOWN 1
Tuesday 15th October
Whitley cruised through to the knockout stages of the League Cup with a comprehensive victory in their first ever game against Second Division Birtley Town. Completing the newly designed group stage of the competition, Whitley finished with three wins out of four, their only defeat coming last month in a closely contested game at top of the table Hebburn Town.
Nathan Stephenson replaced Mark Robinson in the only change from the side that demolished Sunderland RCA at the weekend while Sam Dinsley, who began the season at Hillheads, was included in the Birtley starting eleven.
Although Whitley were comfortably in control and dominating possession, there were few highlights in the opening half hour but the tie burst to life in the 32nd minute when for the fourth consecutive game Whitley were awarded a penalty, after a foul on Stephenson as he tried to break through on goal. Brad Hird had been faultless with his three previous spot kicks but on this occasion he placed his shot too close to keeper John Mordey who kept the ball out with his foot.
Just 60 seconds later, James Martin cut in from the left and closed in on goal before being upended inside the box. This time, Nathan Stephenson took the penalty and drove the ball high into the net giving Mordey no chance.
Six minutes later it was Craig Spooner who attacked down the left and when he crossed into the box, Hird sent a glancing header beyond the reach of the keeper into the far corner of the net to give Whitley a 2-0 lead approaching the interval.
Just before the break, a rare Birtley attack ended with Ryan Drane blazing the ball high out of the ground into the car park.
Birtley began the second half in a more lively fashion and with less than three minutes played, referee Darren Williams pointed to the spot for the third time in the game after Riccardo Tanoh had been fouled in the box. Dan Lister was called into action for virtually the first time in the contest and got his fingertips to Tony Smith’s penalty but could not keep it out. Boosted by their goal, Birtley briefly pressed forward showing greater intent than in the first half but Whitley soon resumed control and in the 57th minute James Martin crossed into the box from the left and Lewis Orrell found time and space to slot home his first goal in Bay colours.
Whitley made all three substitutions with more than half an hour remaining and one of the three, Mark Robinson, had a great chance in the 64th minute when he was played through on goal but he did not make good contact with the ball and his shot was easily saved.
Having been rather quiet in the first half, Josh Macdonald was now causing all sorts of problems for the Birtley defence with his pace on the wing and in the 67th minute, he went clear down the right and delivered a pin-point cross which in-form striker Brad Hird headed home from close range for his ninth goal in the last three games.
Whitley were now in total control and barely four minutes later they added a fifth goal when Orrell burst through unchallenged from the right, went past a defender and rifled home his second goal of the game.
In a near action replay in the 75th minute, Macdonald sprinted through from the right and fired home a sixth goal from a narrow angle, somehow squeezing the ball between keeper and post.
At this stage it looked odds-on that Whitley would go one better than on Saturday and get a seventh goal but it was not to be.
That did not unduly disappoint the Bay fans who went home happy after their side’s third successive victory, a winning run that has seen them score 17 goals. After a weekend off, Whitley will be looking to extend their winning sequence next Tuesday when they take on Newcastle University in the Northumberland Senior Cup.
WHITLEY BAY; Lister, Bexton(Smith 58mins), Martin, Spooner(Doyle 58mins), Lowery, Taylor, Macdonald, Orrell, Hird, Stephenson, Salmon(Robinson 55mins)
Substitutes not used: Proctor, Anderson
Cautions: Salmon, Martin
Referee: Darren Williams
Attendance: 185
