Report by Julian Tyley
“It’s good to see isn’t it” was the reaction of Jay Bates to Whitley’s fourth consecutive win, a 3-0 victory over Carlisle City at Hillheads on Saturday. The Bay manager was clearly delighted to see the continuing good start to the season which sees Whitley top of the table and scoring quality goals.
“Yes, and the number nine (Mackenzie Sharpe) getting goals which he didn’t do so much last season, but you look at it now and he’s scored another two there today and Layton getting one as well, it’s good to see. We should have had three or four (in the first half). They had a couple of opportunities themselves but ours were clear cut chances but Macca goes again in the second half and gets his goals so I’m happy for him.”
Layton Campbell’s goal from a very narrow angle was outstanding but as Jay pointed out “It was, you’ve seen it now, it’s not just this goal, it’s goals over the last few weeks that he’s got no right to score. That one down at Penrith was an impossible angle. but as soon as he gets it out on his right foot you know what he’s doing, he gets shots generally on target so yes that was a good goal.”
Whitley are creating numerous chances in every game and as the manager said “It’s electric isn’t it, as soon as they get it out of their feet and they’re driving it, the defenders are worried. It’s from the first minute as well. Once they see the pace they start dropping back 5 yards, maybe 10 yards deeper and you can see how much we’re stretching now, so yes, it’s a lot better, it’s quick pace and it suits our football.”
New goalkeeper Mauro Asikaogu came in for praise as well, keeping a third consecutive clean sheet and making some crucial saves. “He’s done it now in a couple of games, he’s done it at Marske with a couple of saves late on. and he’s done it again now. He’s kept clean sheets; he’s a good shot stopper. He’s come in and he’s been fantastic since he’s come in.
“You say three clean sheets but it’s not just down to the keeper. It’s remarkable with the players that have been injured, Josh has been injured, Erra’s been injured and a few others have been injured as well but the ones that have stepped in have done really well."
Highlighting the successes of recent game he added “And it’s not just the three clean sheets it’s the eleven goals we’ve scored in the last three games!
“I think Carlisle tweeked their formation a bit today. I think they went five at the back. In the games I’ve watched they’ve always done 4-3-3, so I think maybe teams will be changing their formations with that goal threat that we’ve got at the minute.”
Looking at the improved form this season, Jay explained “We identified what players we needed and where we were lacking and it was goals out wide last season and obviously Layton's come in and is scoring them out wide, and Alfie we’ve got in now. He hasn’t got his goal yet but he’s creating chances so yes it’s good, it’s pleasing.”
Next Saturday’s Whitley begin their FA Vase campaign with a first ever trip to Second Division side Darlington Town on their all-weather surface. “We’ll have a look on Thursday when we go down and watch Darlington Town play Durham United. We’ll have a training session on Wednesday, might do a bit of formation tweeking to have a plan B and then we’ll go from there. In this league and the one below, no game’s easy so we’ll take each game as it comes.”
