Brooks Mileson Memorial League Cup 3rd Round Shildon 4 Whitley Bay 0
Wednesday 18th January
League Cup holders Shildon continued their defence of the trophy as they comfortably saw off Whitley’s challenge in this 3rd Round tie at Dean Street.
Marc Nash named the same Bay starting eleven for the third consecutive game but the continued absence through injury of their main strikers left them struggling to break down a strong and experienced home defence.
There were few chances created in the early stages with a free kick from Alex Kempster flying high over the bar before Shildon’s Amar Purewal brought a comfortable save from Tom Flynn after 15 minutes. The hosts began to pose the greater threat and went close when Lewis Wing drove in a shot that crashed off the woodwork but with 24 minutes played they took the lead when a shot by Billy Greulich Smith from the edge of the box hit the inside of the post and ended up in the back of the net.
Six minutes later Shildon doubled their lead when Ross Wilkinson tripped Ferguson to concede a penalty and Anthony Bell beat Flynn from the spot.
Whitley battled back and won a free kick 25 yards from goal following a foul on Kyle Patton, but they were unable to capitalise on the situation and within a minute, Flynn had to be alert to push clear a shot from Bell. Back at the other end, Wilkinson headed wide from a Callum Patton corner before Flynn once gain thwarted the lively looking Bell. Chances were coming at both ends now and after Wing saw a long range effort fly just over the bar, Whitley so nearly pulled a goal back in the 43rd minute when Tom Gilbey’s perfect cross from the right eluded the home defence and Kyle Patton looked certain the score but he failed to make proper contact on the ball and his attempted header from four yards went the wrong side of the post. The miss proved to be a key moment in the game as within 60 seconds Shildon scored a third goal, Purewal knocking home the rebound after Flynn had bravely blocked his first attempt.
Instead of being back in the cup tie, Whitley were now three goals behind and the game was effectively beyond them.
Immediately after the interval, Flynn produced a superb point blank save to prevent a fourth goal. Aiden Haley and Peter Glen-Ravenhill both came off the bench early in the second half and while Whitley battled hard and posed a greater threat, they could not force their way back into the game. Kempster saw a shot just clear the bar before he was denied by an excellent double save from Peter Jefferies in the home goal, the keeper diving to claw the ball off the line after initially parrying a goalbound effort following a cross from the right by Tom Potter. That was as close as Whitley came and midway through the half, Bell sealed victory with his second and Shildon’s fourth goal of the night, racing clear and rounding Flynn after Whitley lost possession from a free kick in an attacking position. Kempster saw another effort go narrowly wide but this was not a night to remember for Whitley.
WHITLEY BAY: Flynn, Gilbey, McDonald, Anderson, Wilkinson, Allen, Potter(Munro 78mins), C Patton(Haley 46mins), K Patton(Glen-Ravenhill 53mins), Kempster, Charmey
Referee: Jonathan Urwin
Cautions: C Patton, Haley
Attendance: 131
Marc Nash said that he was obviously very disappointed at the result but added “It’s a reality check of where we are against the best sides in the league. We were quite comfortable and growing into the game after the first 20 minutes but then another case of switching off allowing a long ball to catch Macca (Chris McDonald) out of position and giving their lad a clear run on goal. After that we were not aggressive enough and certainly not good enough to equal the level Shildon had risen to. We’ve conceded another penalty which isn’t a great trend we are setting and the third goal on half time was just too easy for them. It may have been a little different if Kyle had put away the header at 2-0 but in truth we weren’t at the races. Second half was much, much better in terms of a response and some sort of performance. We were definitely unlucky not to be rewarded with a goal or two but 4-0 in the end was maybe a little harsh but I’ve been left in no doubt of the improvements needed from everyone. Sometimes a game like this can show up frailties and we’ve learned a lot so everyone is looking for a response on Saturday. There’s 12 games left and nobody will be allowed to slacken off!!”
