Four for Shanks puts Bay in seventh heaven

WHITLEY BAY       7          BISHOP AUCKLAND        0

Tuesday 8^th September

Whitley were in seventh heaven as they really turned on the style to demolish Bishop Auckland at Hillheads on Tuesday evening. Adam Shanks, who scored a hat trick at the weekend, went one better this time as he put four goals past an ill-disciplined Bishops side who ended the game with nine men.

Two goals in the first ten minutes put Whitley firmly in the driving seat and they never looked like relinquishing their grip on the game as they turned in their most impressive display of the season, with every member of the team playing their part.

After Chris Reid had sent a header wide in the third minute, the first goal came just 60 seconds later when Shanks got on the end of Mark Bertram’s corner. Keeper Rhys Jobling just about got his hands to the ball but it was already over the line. Six minutes later Shanks ran on to a perfect pass on the left of the 18 yard box. Closing in on goal, he raced past Auckland captain Arjun Purewal but as he was about to shoot, he was sent tumbling to the ground. Referee David Watson awarded a penalty which the visitors strongly contested. When calm had been restored, and for the fourth time already this season, Shanks confidently despatched the spot kick, sending Jobling the wrong way.

Whitley continued to create chances, and midway through the half, Michael Laws had a shot headed off the line by Graham Irving. In a rare sortie into the Whitley half, Bishops had the ball in the net but to the dismay of the travelling fans, an offside flag had been raised several seconds earlier.

With 28 minutes on the clock, there was a flare-up in midfield when Bishops’ midfielder Ollie Hotchkiss produced a dangerous high tackle and was sent off.

Things were going from bad to worse for the visitors and any hopes they may have harboured of getting back in the game were extinguished a minute before the interval when Chris McDonald’s stunning shot from fully 25 yards, an early contender for goal of the season, left Jobling helpless.

Eleven minutes into the second half, it was 4-0 when Shanks completed his hat trick, racing in at the back post to drive home Alex Kempster’s perfect cross from the left. Just approaching the hour mark, Whitley brought on new signing Aristotte Guerin, a striker brought in from South Shields, and he was given a gilt edged opportunity eight minutes later when Sam Norris played him through on goal but his shot flew just the wrong side of the upright. Seconds later, Glen Lane became the second Bishops player to see red when he was dismissed for using foul and abusive language.

Apart from an incident shortly afterwards when Johnson fired a shot against the base of the post and substitute Kyle Davis forced a save from Jennison, the Whitley defence was untroubled and the home fans were treated to three more goals in the closing stages.

Four minutes from time, the increasingly impressive Shanks made it 5-0 with his fourth goal of the night. Capitalising on another good delivery from Kempster, he neatly controlled the ball before drilling it past a dispirited Jobling from six yards. Less than a minute later, Shanks turned provider as his cross into the box from out on the right was diverted into his own net by a diving header from Bishop’s under-pressure Arjun Purewal to make it 6-0.

Then in the last minute of normal time, Guerin crossed from the right, and the ball rebounded off the bar for Kempster to complete the rout, heading home from close range. Not surprisingly, Whitley received a rapturous ovation from their fans at the final whistle after recording their biggest win since 2009, when coincidentally Bishop Auckland were again the victims of a seven goal drubbing.

WHITLEY BAY: Jennison, Gibson, McDonald, Anderson, Laws, Reid(Williamson 75mins), Norris, Bertram(Day 70mins), Shanks, Richardson(Guerin 59mins), Kempster

Substitutes not used: Lumsden, Young

Caution: Anderson

Referee: David Watson

Paddy Atkinson was a happy man after the game “I was pleased, it was a great performance, the energy was there, we kept going forward and creating chances. They’ve done really well, and Bishops aren’t a bad team – they scored four at the weekend. We certainly got a reaction to what we said about the performance on Saturday.

Praising the goalscoring of Adam Shanks, he added “He’s a good honest lad, he still needs to work on his fitness. He’s made that step up, and he’s realising defenders at this level are that bit quicker so he’s got to take all his chances. I’m really pleased for the lad, he doesn’t complain, just gets on with it, and that’s the sort of player we’ve got here now.”