Ardelean’s late goal secures point at Aycliffe

NEWTON AYCLIFFE 2 WHITLEY BAY 2
Saturday 1st December

A goal by Andrei Ardelean deep into stoppage time earned Whitley a point in Mick Mulhern’s first game as manager. Taking over the reins from Andy Gowens during the week, the former assistant boss was able to make it a relatively seamless transition and the players responded with a battling display against a hard working and physical Newton Aycliffe side.
Mulhern brought defenders Lewis Walton and Luke Taylor back into the starting eleven but Stephen Ramsey missed out with a back injury.
Whitley suffered an early blow when Callum Anderson was the victim of a bad tackle and was forced out of the game with an ankle injury, Ibby Hassan replacing him inside the first ten minutes. No action was taken against the offending player, setting a pattern that was to continue through much of the game.
The pitch had coped well with the heavy rain of recent days but on a damp and misty afternoon it was inevitably slippery and at times players struggled with their foothold. Chances were at a premium during the first half hour but in the 33rd minute Whitley broke the deadlock when Andrei Ardelean cut the ball back from out on the right into the path of Kieran Brannen, whose well struck first time shot flew past keeper James Winter to put Whitley in front.
Aycliffe’s recent signing Jermaine Metz was proving a threat down the right flank and it was he who set up the home side’s equaliser five minutes before half time, when he took advantage of slack defending to burst clear before crossing into the goalmouth where Vinny Gash slid the ball past Tom Flynn. The goal gave the hosts a real lift and they should have gone ahead on the stroke of half time but Flynn made a fine block to deny Metz before Gash blazed the ball high over the bar with the goal at his mercy.
There had been little to choose between the sides in the first half but Aycliffe gradually got on top after the break, forcing Whitley back into defence. Again, there were limited attempts on target but just before the hour mark, Peter Glen-Ravenhill drove a low ball across the face of the Aycliffe goal with no team mate on hand to apply the finishing touch. In the 64th minute Ben Wood cut in from the right and fired the home side into a deserved lead. In the heavy conditions, Brannen was tiring and he was replaced by Dan Taggart in the final quarter of the game. Aycliffe were pressing for a decisive third goal but Whitley were defending with determination and responded with Taggart getting a shot on target with 11 minutes remaining.
Having been very lenient up to this stage, the referee finally took action in the final ten minutes, brandishing a series of yellow cards, which could probably have been avoided with stronger control earlier in the game. Aycliffe midfielder Marc Costello incurred Mr Pill’s wrath with a second caution in the space of a few minutes and was consequently sent off as the game entered stoppage time.
Whitley had kept plugging away and their persistence paid off when Ardelean brought the ball forward on a determined run from midfield and when it was played out to the right, Lewis Suddick and Ben Christensen combined to play it back into the box where Ardelean slammed it home to spark celebrations in the Bay camp. Moments later the final whistle was blown and the visiting fans who made up the majority of the sparse crowd applauded their team off the pitch after rescuing a point that had seemed lost.
WHITLEY BAY: Flynn, McFarlane, Walton, Richardson(Christensen 79mins), Taylor, Anderson(Hassan 8mins), Suddick, Glen-Ravenhill, Ardelean, Brannen(Taggart 72mins), Salmon
Substitutes not used: Cooper, Martin
Caution: Walton
Referee: David Pill
Attendance: 82