Hird stars as Bay hit RCA for six

SUNDERLAND RCA 2 WHITLEY BAY 6
Saturday 12th October

Whitley rewarded their large contingent of travelling fans with a tremendous display of attacking football as they made it back to back victories with their biggest win of the season.
In bright autumn sunshine Whitley looked the livelier side in the opening quarter hour and it was rather against the run of play when RCA took the lead in the 19th minute. The goal came when a long ball down out of defence was crossed from the left into the goalmouth where striker Mark Davison slid it into the net. Whitley responded well and within 90 seconds, Josh Macdonald cut in from the right close to the by-line before playing the ball across the face of goal where Brad Hird nudged it over the line for the equaliser.
Five minutes later Whitley were in front after Hird skilfully controlled a crossfield ball from Luke Salmon on the edge of the box before closing in and slotting it past Dean.
Whitley were now in complete command and moments later, Salmon brought a fine save from Dean who pushed the ball over the bar. Following the resultant corner, Luke Taylor saw his shot pushed wide by the keeper. The pressure was relentless and on the half hour, a right wing corner from Macdonald was dummied by Lewis Orrell and Craig Spooner lashed a great shot past the RCA defence from 20 yards giving dean no chance.
Three goals in the space of nine minutes had put Whitley firmly in control and the home side looked shell-shocked by the turn of events. However, a lapse in concentration by the Bay defence allowed the hosts back into the game when Davison was left unmarked in the box and had time and space to head home a free kick from Dylan Elliott in the 38th minute and give them renewed hope. Any anxiety among the visiting fans at this stage proved unnecessary as Whitley held firm and retained their narrow advantage at the interval.
Now with the advantage of the slope Whitley began the second half strongly, attacking down both flanks as well as through the middle and Salmon went close to extending the lead in the 52nd minute. Barely a minute later, a great through ball from Scott Lowery played Mark Robinson clear on goal and he drilled a 20 yard shot past Dean to make it 4-2.
The RCA defence looked all at sea and three minutes later Robinson was tripped in the box by RCA skipper Greg Swansbury and Hird stepped up to complete his hat trick – his second of the week – from the penalty spot and give Whitley a virtually unassailable 5-2 lead.
In contrast to recent games, Whitley were taking the chances they were creating and their clinical finishing was a joy to watch. They were quicker to the ball than their hosts and their fans could hardly believe what they were watching. It got even better in the 67th minute when Hird ran on to a through ball and controlled it well after it took a bad bounce. He quickly burst clear of a disheartened RCA defence and fired home his fourth goal of the game from just inside the box.
More chances came in the final quarter of the game as every member of the Bay squad played their part in an excellent victory which should do wonders for team morale.
Without several key players for a variety of reasons, this was a particularly impressive performance and deserved reward following some bad luck in recent games.
WHITLEY BAY: Lister, Bexton, Martin, Spooner(Stephenson 70mins), Lowery, Taylor, Macdonald(Doyle 81mins), Orrell, Hird, Robinson, Salmon
Substitutes not used: Proctor, Bramley
Cautions: None
Referee: Graeme Hopper
Attendance: 212