After Whitley’s dramatic extra time FA Vase victory at Thornaby, Manager Marc Nash said that the players’ fitness was a key factor in seeing them through to the next round of the competition. “There doesn’t seem to be anything straight forward with us at the moment and Saturday was another rollercoaster of emotions. We played better on Tuesday and lost but football is quirky in those sort of ways. What is in no doubt is the spirit, resilience and fitness as we endured another 120 minutes and came out on top.
We didnt get out of first gear for half an hour as we struggled to hold the ball up and get up the pitch. They seemed to be looking sharper and more hungry to pick the loose balls, without truly threatening our goal. Eventually we got going and Robbo’s finish was excellent and showed we had the quality to produce a goal from nothing really.
We wanted to keep the ball more when we spoke at half time and try to take the sting out of Thornaby as we knew they would come out firing. Unfortunately, we’ve conceded set pieces then we didn’t defend a long throw very well and got punished.
We had to stabilise things pretty quickly but again injuries have plagued us with Josh and Alex coming off with barely an hour played. We had to change shape and literally play with five forward players but one bonus was the return of Aiden Haley who gives us that bit extra in midfield. It looked like we were drifting into extra time but a mad minute saw Robbo thump the post then they’ve scored a soft goal from our point of view. With four minutes on the clock it can become desperate but we composed ourselves somehow and passed the ball just hoping for that one chance and up pops Ross with his customary game saving goal. We could have easily won it there and then as they looked shellshocked and we suddenly had the momentum. I said at full time that they would be feeling like we felt on Tuesday so to take the game to them and that’s exactly what we did. We were excellent in extra time and did the job to get us in the hat which is something you take before any cup match regardless of how you do it!”
