Late comeback fails to rescue point in local derby

North Shields  3  Whitley Bay  2

Saturday 22^nd October

 A late comeback by Whitley was not sufficient to earn a point in the local derby at North Shields. The home side dominated much of the game and were comfortably in control until the closing stages when Whitley scored twice to make the final score look more respectable.

Shields looked the livelier side from the start and with just four minutes played a shot from Curtis Coppen struck the top of the Whitley bar. Two former Bay players then combined as the hosts searched for the opening goal, Denver Morris racing away down the right before crossing to Lee Mason whose shot was too high.

In the 19^th minute, Ryan Carr burst into the Bay 18 yard box and went to ground under a challenge from Callum Munro. Referee Graeme Hopper pointed to the spot and Mason slotted the penalty into the corner of the net to put the league leaders in front.

Two minutes later, Whitley went close following a push on Adam Shanks when Jake Fowler’s 20 yard free kick crashed off the post. It was a brief respite as Shields went backl on the attack and doubled their lead in the 24^th minute when Carr headed home Wilson’s cross at the back post. The chances kept coming for the home side but for all their pressure, they failed to find the target until two minutes before the interval when Tom Flynn made a fine one handed save to deny Morris.

The second half brought a little more attacking intent from Whitley, with Kyle Fryatt seeing a shot blocked by Hayes but it looked all over after 66 minutes when the Robins added a third goal, Mason applying the finishing touch after Flynn had parried a shot from Wilson. Almost immediately, Shanks volleyed over from Kempster’s cross but with just eleven minutes remaining, Whitley capitalised on a defensive mix up when Hayes came out for the ball but a misunderstanding between the keeper and defender allowed debutant Kyle Patton, who had been on the pitch for little more than 15 minutes, to claim possession and slot the ball into an empty net from twelve yards. Shields had chances to restore their advantage but Wilson skied a shot high over the bar and then Bainbridge poked the ball wide. Two minutes into stoppage time, Adam Shanks drilled the ball through a crowded Shields defence from 20 yards to make it 3-2 and cause some anxiety among the home side and their fans but there was to be no  dramatic finale and after a further two minutes of added time, the final whistle brought the contest to an end.

WHITLEY BAY: Flynn, Munro, McDonald(Haley 59mins), Wilkinson, Nearney, Allen, Fryatt(Powell 75mins), Fowler, Robertson(K Patton 61mins), Shanks, Kempster

Caution: Munro

Referee: Graeme Hopper

Attendance: 536

Reflecting on the game, Ian Chandler commented: “There were a few people saying 3-2 flattered us but football’s over 90 to 95 minutes and if there’d been another five minutes I think we might have equalised. But we cannot give teams 60 minutes and the freedom of the pitch and then decide all of a sudden to put in a bit of effort in the last 30 and expect to get a better result than we did. They’re a decent team but we made them look world beaters for an hour. Then all of a sudden we put them under pressure and we got a good goal from Kyle Patton. It was a good finish and he worked hard. Then Shanksy got his goal right at the end and like I say if there’d been another five minutes it could have been 3-3. We gave them too much of a head start, it was disappointing for the fans but there was a bit of character in that we came back but we shouldn’t have been three down. Tom Flynn made some good saves and was unlucky when the ball rebounded to Mason for the third. They’re a good team and 3-2 on paper doesn’t look too bad but we should have done better.”