Bay slump to shock defeat

GUISBOROUGH TOWN     2        WHITLEY BAY       1

Saturday 26^th November

Whitley’s excellent unbeaten run since Marc Nash took over as manager came to an unexpected end at bottom of the table Guisborough Town. The North Yorkshire side, on a dismal run of form, were shaken by the resignation of manager Steve Dowling in midweek and as can often happen in such circumstances, the players responded as if they had something to prove, with a performance that belied their lowly position.

The early stages of the game provided no indication of what was to come with the home side looking low on confidence as Whitley dominated the first 25 minutes, repeatedly cutting through a hesitant and nervous looking defence.

With just under five minutes played, Kyle Fryatt’s ball found Alex Kempster unmarked inside the Guisborough penalty area and he rounded the keeper before slotting the ball into an empty net to give Whitley the perfect start. Three minutes later, Kempster set up Tom Potter whose shot was headed behind for a corner. The ball into the box caused panic in the home defence before it was eventually scrambled clear. Maintaining the pressure, Whitley might have extended their lead in the 14^th minute but Robertson’s ball into the box was headed behind by defender Lee Bythway. Four minutes later, Kempster’s cross from the right saw Fryatt fire a shot inches wide of the far post. Town keeper James Dawson then kept his side in the game coming off his line to smother another shot from Potter.

Potter was thwarted yet again before Dawson made another crucial save to keep out an effort from Robertson following a cross from Fryatt.

Guisborough had made only rare forays downfield up to this stage but with 27 minutes on the clock and completely out of the blue they grabbed an equaliser. Gary Wood played a long ball down the left over the Bay defence and Connor Smith raced in from the wing to send a measured shot beyond the advancing Tom Flynn. Clearly boosted by the goal, Town raised their game and barely two minutes later Sam Orritt raced away down the right and his ball flew across the face of goal with no one on hand to apply the finishing touch.

Robertson then drove a shot high over the bar after good work from Kempster had set up the chance for Whitley to regain the lead but despite all their chances, the scores remained level at the interval.

Early in the second half, former Bay midfielder Chris Youldon cleared a header from Kempster off the line then Nick Allen fired just wide after a corner was played short and Fryatt crossed the ball to the back of the 18 yard box.

Guisborough then came more into the game, pushing Whitley onto the back foot. Ferguson’s 25 yard free kick brought a good low save from Flynn but when the home side pushed forward again, Wood played the ball from midfield for David Onions to chase down and he took it to the by-line where he evaded a challenge from Keltie and from a tight angle slid the ball into the net past Flynn to the delight of the home side and their fans.

Having got their noses in front, Guisborough fought harder than ever for every ball and Whitley seemed to run out of ideas, rarely troubling Dawson in the final quarter of the game. Pushing forward in search of the equaliser, Whitley left themselves vulnerable to the counter attack and when a fierce shot rebounded off a home defender, a quick break upfield could have brought a third goal for the home side but excellent defending by Allen averted the danger. Substitutes Kyle Patton and Adam Shanks both went close in the later stages but despite five minutes of added time Guisborough held on and in the end they deservedly claimed a rare victory that lifted them off the foot of the table.

WHITLEY BAY: Flynn, Munro, McDonald, Allen, Keltie, Anderson, Potter, Haley(C Patton 60mins), Robertson(K Patton 77mins), Kempster, Fryatt(Shanks 71mins)

Referee: Chris Ellis

Caution: C Patton

Attendance: 128

After the game it was a clearly disappointed Marc Nash who spoke about his first defeat since taking over as Bay manager. “We’ve maybe come back down to earth with a bang. It’s a shame really as we were virtually unplayable in the first 25 minutes but it proved one goal wasn’t going to be enough as has been the case for most of this season. We should have been out of sight against a team with fragile confidence but to their credit they showed plenty of spirit for their new (interim) manager. Goals change games and their equaliser was a poor goal from our point of view and after a great start to the game our level dropped and we just couldn’t shake it off and get going again. We started the second half brightly but again conceded against the run of play on the hour and in all honesty we huffed and puffed after that and a lot of our play became slow and predictable. Last week we mixed it up and had plenty of good performances but this week, in the end, we were left frustrated by an off-day. Saying that Guisborough only really had the two chances but they took them and that’s the statistic that matters most. We must learn from this and bounce back at Benfield next week.”