New Marske Juniors 4 - Whitby Town 3
After the dissapointment of the previous game we were hoping to get back to winning ways against a Whitby team we had failed to beat last season. The defence was reshuffled with Jack and Bash on the bench.
From the off, Whitby were straight on the attack and managed to cut through the centre of our defence. Luckily he over ran the ball as it ended up in Deans hands. We were kicking with the wind in the first half, and Deans kick went straight through to the Whitby keeper.Whitby's next attack came when a timely tackle stopped our progress and enabled Whitby to attack down their right. Joe came racing in to tackle, but the Whitby player outfoxed him and managed to get a shot at goal. Luckily it went sailing over the bar.
The wind was causing problems and an attempted cross by Ryan only ended up sailing well over the goal area and out of play for a goal kick. After 8 minutes Whitby once more got free down the right and Dean did well to save the shot. The subsequent rebound was knocked out for a corner by Joe. We cleared our lines comfortably from the corner.
The general play up to this point was pretty even, with the difference being Whitby had created three good chances by running at the defence. A free kick by Whitby was hit in, but was cleared easily by David. A throw to us down the right came in towards the keeper and Johnny who was going for the ball. the keeper won out when Johnny didn't quite go in with total conviction.
Whitby defend with numbers, not allowing us through
Whitby went close again when David mistimed a ball and the Whitby player got through. He managed to outpace Joe and get his shot in, that was saved well by Dean. Once more down the right Whitby attacked, and the attacker got away from David only to find Joe hurtling in on him. A bit to robustly, as a free kick was awarded to Whitby, near our goal line. The free kick came in, but was saved by Dean, and then cleared.
We had rode our luck a bit but finally the break came for Whitby on 16 minutes. A free kick was awarded when a tackle by Ryan caught a Whitby player in the stomach. the free kick was hit high into the box and Joe could only deflect the ball past Dean into the corner of the net. 0-1 to Whitby.
A couple of minutes later we were awarded a free kick in a great position just outside the box. Johnny hit in, but it went straight into the wall. The ball rebounded back to Johnny who saw his second shot go sailing well over the bar. Johnny found himself in another scoring chance but blazed his shot wide of the goal when he had a bit more time to bring it down. Still it was a good response to going a goal behind.
Whitby had the next chance when they outmuscled us, forcing Joe to slice an attempted clearance straight into the path of a Whitby player who found himself through on goal. Once again he blazed his shot over the bar. It was a good job Whitby had failed to capitalise on the number of chances they had had, otherwise we could have been out of the game by this point.
We were being closed down quickly in the early stages
A delay of a couple of minutes followed when Danny got a knock and needed some treatment. He managed to come back on after a minute or two, just as Ryan went on a great run forward. He played the ball to Frank, who played him back in, but without any support he was hustled off the ball by a pack of Whitby defenders. We were struggling to create good openings due to the number of Whitby players back helping out their defence.
A free kick to us close to the corner flag was put in by Danny, but it was overhit and sailed away without anybody getting close to the ball. On 26 minutes Frank made an opening for himself after he appeared to lose track of where the ball was. Once he found it again he sidestepped the defender and struck his shot well. The keeper managed to get hold of it at the second attempt.
We were starting to finally exert some pressure on the Whitby defence, but were still finding it difficult to open them up. We had a couple of corners taken by Ryan, of which the second one had the keeper struggling to get to the ball. He did in the end and managed to palm the ball clear off the line and out for a third corner. The ball came in and if anybody had been attacking the back post, they would have had a great scoring chance, as it was there was nobody there and the ball went harmlessly out for a throw.
Got away this time, even after an attempted rugby tackle
A really scrappy period of play followed where both teams struggled to pass the ball correctly, but a great challenge by Greg was needed to stop Whitby getting through once more. A great run by Johnny saw him beat a defender on the half way line and run at the Whitby defence. Whitby were forced to foul him and concede a free kick just outside their box on our left hand side after 31 minutes. Johnny put the ball onto the back post where Joe was waiting to plant the ball into the Whitby net. His second goal of the game to make it 1-1.
He was obviously feeling confident when a ball fell nicely for him near the half way line, he hit it beautifully as it flew past the Whitby goal.
Half-time: New Marske 1 - Whitby Town 1
Straight from the off in the second half we penned Whitby back. Whitby were struggling to get out of ftheir half, which was a bit more promising for us. Danny and Conor combined to win a second corner of the half. After 39 minutes we took the lead our pressure was promising. A shot was hit towards the Whitby goal, but bounced out to Ryan, his shot wasn't the best in the world, but it seemed to catch out the Whitby keeper who appeared to dive over the top of the ball. 2-1 to New Marske.
The Whitby lead didn't last long as a far post header brought us level
Whitby got their composure back and went back on the attack, leading to a couple of free kicks. The first on the left was headed out well by Joe. The second from the other side looked like it was going to fall invitingly for a Whitby attacker, just as Dean managed to get his hands on it to make the save. We were starting to play some nice football as we started to look more composed on the ball in the second half, after all the chances Whitby had had, in the first half.
Joe was playing really well, and making challenges in the Whitby half, one of which created a chance for Danny, but his shot sailed well wide of the goal. Johnny got away down the left and put a nice ball across for Conor who saw his volley go wide of the goal. It was a decent effort though.
Whitby attacked down their left, and once more looked to be through, that was until a last ditch challenge by Joe cleared the ball out for a throw. Whitby looked like they were about to get free from just inside their half, but Andy clattered the player, conceding a free kick, but stopped the attack. We were battling well, and not allowing Whitby too much time and space on the ball, but the did manage to get a shot in that went wide of the goal.
On 55 minutes disaster struck as Whitby grabbed the equaliser. Whitby hit a goalbound shot, that looked to be stopped by Dean, the defence failed to clear the ball and a Whitby player coming in buried the ball into the net. 2-2. We were deflated and Whitby regained the ball straight from our kick off that ended up with them getting a corner. We cleared the ball up to Frank, who found himself totally on his own with six men to beat. He lost the ball and it enabled Whitby to go back on the attack.
A brilliant man of the match performance at the back
From a position of winning the game within a minute we were losing as Whitby attacked down their left. An attacker found himself unmarked in the box and hit a shot at Dean. He couldn't hold it and seemed to drop the ball, and a Whitby player gratefully accepted the opportunity to make the score 2-3 to Whitby. The deja-vu we had been suffering this season was back again.
Straight from the kick off, Andy misplaced a pass and sent Whitby back onto the attack, resulting in another corner. We had lost our composure as Whitby started to rally. We cleared the corner but Whitby were well on top as our heads had gone down. Was it going to be an action replay of similar games this season, or could we turn the game around?
On 60 minutes, Andy was subbed as Liam came on to replace him. Whitby hit another shot at goal, that was cleared out, only as far as the three Whitby players just outside the box. Unmarked and unchallenged another shot came in, luckily this time straight into Deans arms. The change in the two teams could be seen in the challenges. Whitby were straight into every ball while we were letting balls bounce rather than clear them.
Johnny looked to have a clear run at a defender, but instead turned back and the chance was lost. Still at least we were back into the Whitby half. Two more subs came on as Matthew and Ben Leaper came on to replace Conor and Johnny. Ben found himself with a chance, but poor control meant he missed the chance of a shot, as the ball was cleared.
The last line of defence as Whitby push forward
It was starting to look as if time was running out for us to get back into the game. And it didn't look as if luck was on our side as Ben struck a much better shot that struck the bar only for the referee to blow for an off side anyway. just as the game seemed to be ebbing away we got back level with a fluke of a goal. Danny picked the ball up quite well out of the Whitby box, juggled the ball a couple of times and hit what looked like a half hearted attempt at a pass forward. The keeper just missed the ball completely and let it go through him into the net. Unlucky for Whitby but brilliant for us.
it looked like our luck was changing and that we had managed to salvage a point as their was only a couple of minutes left to play. Buoyed by the goal we put Whitby under real pressure as we pushed them back. A corner to us was taken by Liam, who found Ben. He hit his shot into the side netting when a better option may have been to get the ball in front of goal where we had men waiting. Whitby still had time to force a corner that was cleared, leading to a free kick to us just inside the Whitby half. It was taken quickly and the Whitby defender failed to deal with it, leaving Ryan to volley the ball over the keeper and into the net. 4-3 to New Marske.
Despair for Whitby but total joy for New Marske as the final whistle went. It's a funny old game football.
Final Score: New Marske 4 Whitby Town 3MOTM:- : Joe Harvey