Report by Julian Tyley
This weekend Whitley Bay travel to Harrogate Railway in the 2nd Qualifying Round of the FA Vase. The club coach will be leaving Hillheads at 11.30am for the trip to Yorkshire with Bay fans hoping for a better outcome than when the sides last met, 22 years ago in a FA Cup Replay at Station View. The original tie ended in a 2-2 draw at Hillheads and the teams met for the replay two days later on August Bank Holiday. It turned out to be one of the most dramatic cup ties Whitley had played. Here is the full match report:
FA CUP PRELIMINARY ROUND REPLAY
HARROGATE RAILWAY 5 WHITLEY BAY 4
August 2002
Whitley Bay crashed out of the FA Cup in this Preliminary round replay at Harrogate on Monday of last week despite a tremendous battle. Three nil down with less than 20 minutes to go and with a man sent off, Whitley looked dead and buried but a double substitution led to a dramatic fight back which almost took the tie to extra time.
With Caffrey and Middleton unavailable, Andy Gowens had to reshuffle his team from the side that played in the first game two days earlier. Indeed, he had to name himself and assistant Mark Cameron among the substitutes.
On a sloping pitch, there was little to choose between the sides in a rather dull opening period, during which scoring opportunities were at a premium. For Whitley, an Andy Bowes volley and a back header from Andy Hay were the highlights until Gary Cook forced a save from Neale after 38 minutes. A goalless first half seemed certain until Steve Davey was judged to have been tripped by Dugdale just inside the area and Davey scored from the penalty spot for the second time in the tie to give Harrogate the lead at the interval.
Seconds after the restart, Andy Bowes was booked for a bad tackle and from the resulting free kick, Ames put the Railwaymen two up. With Whitley making little impact up front, an attacking substitution saw Chandler and O’Donovan come off the bench in place of Hay and Anderson, but within moments, Craig Melrose was sent off for violent conduct. A depleted defence struggled to control the lively home attack and it seemed curtains for Whitley when Jimmy Gore added a third for Harrogate in the 71st minute. However, Ian Chandler pulled a goal back from close range three minutes later, and when Lee O’Donovan got a second for Whitley in the 79th minute, the game was suddenly alive again. The home defence were wilting under the aerial dominance of Ian Chandler and seeing his side’s chance, Andy Gowens brought himself on for the last five minutes to add further pressure up front. However, this left gaps at the back and Harrogate took advantage to grab a fourth goal through McLean and once again the game appeared to be over. However, the irrepressible Chandler replied immediately with Whitley’s third goal but then Dugdale was sent off for a second bookable offence, leaving Whitley with just nine men.
In an amazing finale Whitley threw everyone forward and six minutes into stoppage time, O’Donovan’s cross from the left was scrambled home by Steve Locker, to make the score 4-4, leaving Whitley’s contingent of travelling fans ecstatic. However, their celebrations were short lived when from the restart, Harrogate broke away and substitute Andy Sunley lobbed the ball over Hoggarth for Harrogate’s fifth goal with what was virtually the last kick of the game.
This was a devastating blow after a courageous and heroic fightback and it left Whitley with nothing to show for their efforts, ending hopes of a lucrative run in this season’s FA Cup.
WHITLEY BAY: Hoggarth, Dugdale, Locker, Anderson(O’Donovan 55mins), Melrose, Bowes, Sunderland, Walton, Mawson(Gowens 85mins), Hay(Chandler 55mins), Cook. Substitutes not used; Taylor, Cameron.
* This weekend's cup tie cannot go to a replay as FA Vase games must now be decided on the day with penalties if the scores are level after 90 minutes.
After going out of the competition on penalties in the last two seasons, Whitley will be hoping they can maintain their recent good form with a third consecutive victory!
