Report by Julian Tyley
Whitley Bay completed their season in sensational style, scoring twice in the last five minutes on Easter Saturday to claim a 2-1 victory over local rivals North Shields in front to more than 1000 fans at Hillheads.
Callum Larmouth’s penalty quickly followed by Meeshi Kanda’s headed winner sent the home fans into raptures of delight after a perfectly struck free kick by Nick Cassidy had put the visitors in front.
After the game, defender Graham Williams and top scorer Callum Larmouth gave the players’ perspective on an afternoon of high drama.
Graham began by summarising the game. “Obviously a great finish, scoring the winner in the 90th minute after going behind after dominating the first half when we missed chances, which has been a bit of the story of the season. Yes, we were on top but missed crucial chances then were punished at the back. It was our own doing, a mistake, it could have been cleared but fair play to Nick (Cassidy) he’s bent it over the wall in the top corner. But you’ve got to look at the character of the lads in the last ten minutes getting the equaliser with Callum’s great penalty then to push on and seize the moment and go and get the winner. Micky’s just kept the ball alive and crossed and Meeshi’s managed to knock it into the back of the net.
“Yes it was a well-deserved win. First half especially me and Micky (Scott) thought we were very comfortable at the back. They had two nippy wingers and a big lad up top but it didn’t really bother us and I don’t think Dan’s had much to do. Then second half the game went a bit flat and it’s allowed them a bit more into the game.
“There were shouts in the first half from their manager ‘we can’t get any worse’ so we knew that something was going to come, but it’s the character of the lads. We are a close-kit dressing room, probably one of the closest I’ve been in.
“It is nice when you get that reward at the end of the season in front of a big crowd as well, so thanks to the fans that have come, over 1,000 for step 5 football is very good.”
Callum scored the crucial equaliser but he had to wait a long time after the penalty was awarded before he could take the kick. Were there any nerves during that lengthy wait?
“To be honest I did feel a little bit nervous and I don’t normally feel nervous on penalties, but it was the fact that how long it took to actually put the ball on the spot. It was a lot of delay so I just thought to get away from the moment and so I just picked the ball up and I just stepped away from all the commotion. But when it came to the penalty I just thought I’ve got to make sure it goes in so it was a power shot.” Asked about the modern habit among top flight penalty takers he commented. “That’s what I don’t understand about penalties, you’ve just got to make sure it goes in so why all the fancy penalties? To be fair in that kind of moment I had to make sure that it was going in because if it hadn’t, we would probably have gone on and lost the game 1-0. It was a game changer and five minutes later we go on and get the winner and you just think that’s a massive step in the game, scoring the penalty and then getting the winner especially against Shields. We kind of owed them it and we knew the occasion, we knew the effect it would have on everyone here.”
Both players were fully aware of the significance of the game and how much this local derby means to both sets of fans. Graham reflected on his history with Whitley Bay
“It feels like a long time ago but I broke into football for Whitley Bay when I was an 18 year old. I had spells elsewhere and I came back and I’m back again now so I’m fully aware what this game means to the club. I’ve only ever been sent off once in my career and that was against North Shields on a Boxing Day game so yes I’m fully aware of the enormity of the game, but like you say a 90th minute winner… you can’t end it any better!”
After North Shields scored, were the players still confident of getting something from the game? Callum was in no doubt “Definitely, no disrespect to Shields - because we know how good they have been when we went to their place and they absolutely dominated us, so credit where credit’s due - but at the same time we knew we had to dominate them today and I felt we did that today for the full 90 minutes, I’m not sure what the fans thought, but I felt really comfortable. I feel like we dominated in areas. They didn’t give us much threat and when they did threaten, we dealt with it so we kind of matched the occasion but we’ve done ourselves proud and the fans proud.
Both players were full of praise for North Shields keeper Alex Curran. Graham commented “He’s pulled off some great saves in the first half and then in the second half there’s a couple where he’s just managed to get his toe to it or just get his fingers to it and you think, please just one go in but then we finally managed to get it in the back of the net so we’ll take it. What a way to end the season!”
Callum mentioned the save from Regan Paterson in stoppage time “You’ve got the give the keeper credit because if that goes in, it’s completely dead and they’ve nothing to play for.
He continued “We just looked so dangerous every time we played it out wide. I think these were our crucial parts today. Our wingers were just on form today, Lucas, Kyle, Regan, they were excellent. Thomas when he came on, he did a shift, put the ball in the areas where we wanted him to and we’ve seen the game out. That’s all we wanted to do, see that last five minutes out.”
The part played by the fans did not go unnoticed by the players as Callum explained “I’ve had two fans come up to me and said how much it means to them and that’s when it kind of hits you, when people come up to you who you don’t even know and you’ve never seen before. So you think that’s how much it means to people like that! We can go and enjoy ourselves now and have a drink. We’ve got the revenge that we needed because everyone, even our own fans came today and thought it was going to be a tough game after what they’ve done to us at their pitch. But we matched the occasion with the performance and the gaffer’s pretty much said this is what you need to do and when we came in at half time and full time he said that’s exactly what he’d asked.”
Both players were amazed at the size of the crowd, but with 1029 fans in the ground, does it affect the players? Do they play the occasion rather than the game? Graham’s reply was “Believe it or not during the game you don’t really notice. It’s only when you’re going off at half time or when Shields scored and you turn round and they’ve got their flares going and they’re into you, but it makes the occasion but we haven’t played the occasion today, we played a game of football and we’ve done what we needed to do to win the game.”
Callum added “ Everywhere you look there’s fans standing there, lads do get nervous, not everyone has that confidence and so when the lads actually perform with that kind of crowd you have to give them credit because it can be tough, but that was an amazing atmosphere when we scored them goals! To celebrate like that and see all the fans clapping at the end it’s unreal, it’s class!”
The summer break has arrived for players and the fans but Callum can’t wait to get going in pre-season. “Yes, definitely, straight back in! I want to get back in pre-season already. It won’t be long, it never is with Jay and Rizza. They get you back 5 weeks earlier than everyone else!"
