Whitby Town 5 New Marske 2
It was that stage of the season, when the games come thick and fast as everybody tries to fit the postponed games in. And so we headed off to Whitby on a glorious sunny day, for what was to be our first game in three weeks.
The games started slowly with neither team trying to grab the initiative, and it took a few minutes for the first shot on goal, coming from Whitby, that went well wide of Deans goal. In fact the first 8-9 minutes passed very uneventfully until a free kick was awarded to Whitby, after David fouled a Whitby player. In keeping with the game the ball was floated in, only for the referee to blow up for an off side player.
Tracked closely by the Whitby player. It might be an optical illusion, but it looks like he's smuggling a bag of potatoes in those shorts
For some reason, whenever we travel to Whitby we seem to get one of these games. If only we had shown the commitment of the following two games here there would have been an excellent chance to have got something from this game.
The game burst into life on the 10 minute mark, as a long ball found Frank, who flicked the ball on and then chased after it, bearing down on the keeper. The keeper out quickly made a sharp save to stop us going in front. A couple of minutes later we were awarded a free kick just inside the Whitby half as Matthew was caught late by a Whitby player. A nice ball in from the free kick failed to see us make a scoring chance as Whitby broke away with the ball. Attacking down the left, eventually a shot came in. It didn't look to be a problem, but somehow it hit Deans post and ended up in the net. What a disaster. 1-0 to Whitby.
It was turning into a very lacklustre performance from us, sorry, scratch that it was a lacklustre performance from the off, but could we add a bit of steel and urgency to our game? Well, the next chance fell to us as Frank tried an overhead kick, that didn't come close to worrying the Whitby keeper. A few minutes later we should have got the equaliser. An attack down the left saw Frank pick up the ball. His cross flew across the box and was controlled by Ryan on the far side of the goal. He dribbled Ronaldo like through the Whitby defence, but unlike Ronaldo, stayed on his feet despite a couple of chalenges that would certainly have led to a penalty if he had gone down. Finally working the goal scoring opportunity brilliantly, he scuffed his final shot past the post.
A physical midfield tussle for the ball
Our performance was slowly improving as we started to catch Whitby on the break. Frank was set through when the was a collision between him and a couple of Whitby defenders on the edge of the box. Loud appeals from the touchline were ignored by the referee who waved play on. Minutes later a brilliant ball from Matthew found Johnny free, but he wasn't able to make a chance of a shot at goal.
Things were looking up as we increased the pressure the Whitby defence were under, but could we get the equaliser? Whitby were next to have a chance, with a quick break that saw a cross pick out an unmarked attacker in the box. Before the shot came in we somehow managed to work the ball clear. Whitby doubled their lead on 23 minutes. A shot came in that Dean saved, however another Whitby player was the first to react as he came in and buried the ball past Dean. 2-0 to Whitby.
On 31 minutes we got back into the game. We were awarded a free kick on the right near the touchline. Johnny whipped the ball in, low and hard, and the keeper on his near post looked like he would smother the ball, when instead he let the ball squirm underneath him and into the net. 2-1 to Whitby.
That's what we like to see, a defender pushing on!
Shortly after we had the chance to draw level, when Johnny won the ball and put in a great through ball, right across the box. If anybody had taken a chance it would have been a simple tap in, but instead the ball continued across and out of the box.
Half-time: Whitby Town 2 - New Marske 1
The second half started with the same team starting, with the hope we could get back into the game. We started on the attack, and the feeling was the game was there to get back into as long as applied ourselves. However the game dropped back into the same pattern as the first half , with both sides playing with little or no urgency.
Things picked up as we started to knock the ball around with more confidence, leading to Greg putting Conor through on the keeper. The keeper managed to get the ball first as the chance disappeared. Our improved play looked as if it had come to nothing as ball ran through to Dean, and instead of picking it up, he tried to kick it clear, only for a Whitby attacker to put the ball into the net. The celebrations were a bit premature as the referee had blown the whistle for some unknown incident.
With a mighty leap the towering jump helps win the header
On 47 minutes there was a bit of a flash point, ending with Ryan getting a talking to from the referee. The game had once more quietened down with not too much happening. A half chance fell to both sides before we got the equaliser on 50 minutes. Dean hit the ball to Johnny. Johnny played a great ball through to Frank, who cut inside and hit a brilliant shot inside the far post to make the score 2-2.
Whitby were awarded a free kick just outside the box, when Jack seemed to catch a Whitby player on his ankle. The resultant free kick sailed well over the bar though. A minute later though, Whitby were back in front. An attack down the left saw the Whitby attacker turn inside Andy before burying the ball into the net. 3-2 to Whitby.
Matthew, Andy and David were taken off in a bold move as Dougy, Liam and Ben Leaper came on. Whitby came straight back on the attack, and a poorly hit shot, forced Dean into making a save as he turned the ball around the post for a corner. We cleared the resultant corner comfortably.
A great goal, cut back inside, leave the defender on the deck, and curl the ball into the far corner
A lovely ball from a free kick by Jack looked to have put Frank through, that was until it hit Frank on the back of his head as he lost the flight off the ball. Chances at both ends followed, with Whitby first spurning a chance and then Frank seeing his shot saved, and the follow up chance missed. We were to rue that great goal scoring chance as Whitby pulled further into the lead. A Whitby player picked the ball up in his own half and ran towards our box. Evading poor challenges from Liam, Joe and with Jack blocked off he found himself clear as he put the ball past Dean to make the score 4-2 to Whitby.
A half chance by Frank was followed by a couple of free kicks for us. Both hit into the box, and both times nobody looked as if they wanted to win the ball. We were to rue those chances as Whitby scored their fifth goal. From a corner the ball wasn't cleared properly and eventually fell to a Whitby player outside the box, allowing him to curl the ball into the top corner from about 22 yards. 5-2 to Whitby.
The grass is looking a bit long, but oh, good pressure on the man with the ball
Our heads had dipped, with players looking sluggish, and no challenges going in, as the game fizzled out for a dissapointing final result.
Final Score: Whitby Town 5 New Marske 2
MOTM:- : None awarded