NEWCASTLE FLOORING NORTHUMBERLAND SENIOR CUP 1st ROUND
WHITLEY BAY 0 BLYTH TOWN 3
Tuesday 3rd October
Match report by Harry Salkeld
After a disappointing defeat to Shildon AFC at the weekend, the Bay were back at Hillheads to try and change their fortunes in the Newcastle Flooring Senior Cup Round One, against a high-flying Blyth Town side. Four changes were made to the side that played at Shildon. Page, Richardson, Brewis and new signing, Eddie Thomas all made the starting XI. Noah Millington also made a return to the match day squad, as he started on the bench. Our opponents, Blyth Town, had a fantastic game at the weekend as they smashed Brandon United 11-0. Their number 9, Daniel Wilson, scored 4 goals and assisted three goals.
The game started with Whitley dictating the tempo and trying to find an opening to create the first chance of the game. The first chance of the game fell to Luke Page in the 8th minute. His fierce and ferocious shot was smashed over the bar to the despair of the Bay fans. Minutes later, Blyth Town were on the attack but the Bay defence recovered brilliantly to deny any real threat.
Then, there was a huge 15-minute dry patch, where nothing really happened in the game for either side. Both teams were trying to tactically sus each other out. After this, the game started to pick up and was being played at a more rapid pace than before. In the 34th minute, multiple shots were saved by Hayes. It was like a pinball machine in the box as several Bay players were scrambling for the ball. Unfortunately, it led to nothing but there were good signs for the Bay as they had not created anything serious up until that point.
Minutes later, Marc Ellison had a shot that went just wide. However the deadlock was broken two minutes later by the opposition after Ben Fell put in a lovely cross which was greeted by a sublime volley from their captain, Joseph Gibson. In the 41st minute, things went from bad to worse for Nick Gray and his players, as Andrew Cartwright was sent off for an overly committed challenge from behind. The ref blew his whistle for half time to send the Bay into the interval 1-0 down.
The second half started terribly for the Bay as Daniel Wilson’s shot was converted into the bottom right corner. There were question marks over whether the goal should have stood as a Blyth Town player clearly committed a handball offense, which ultimately led to the goal. In the 57th minute, Mark Davison’s headed attempt just went over the bar.
The first substitution of the game was made by the opposition as Yannick Aziakonou came off for Dillan Short. In the 67th minute, the away side grew their advantage to the three after Lee Waugh scored to the delight off the travelling fans.
A triple substitution was made by the Bay, Davison, Richardson and Brewis all made way for Gilchrist, Brewis and Hall. In the last 20 minutes, no chances were created by either side to the frustration of most in Hillheads. The last shot off the game fell to Storr whose shot went just wide. The referee blew the full-time whistle to the end game at 3-0 to the Blyth Town.
Despite losing two games on the bounce, I just want to say that things aren’t all doom and gloom to those who think it is. We are second in the Northern League Division One and have shown we can play very good football over the last 1 year and a half. Since Nick and Liam have come to the club, results have dramatically improved. I have seen a turn around I didn’t think was possible. We finished fourth last season and got to the semi-finals off the cup, so the progress is clear. Thank you to everyone who came to support the lads last night. HOWAY THE BAY!
WHITLEY BAY: Bond, Neary, Day, Turnbull, Cartwright, Richardson(Hall 68mins), Thomas, Ellison, Davison(Gilchrist 68mins), Page, Brewis(Storr 68mins)
Cautions: Cartwright (Red Card) Elliott Day, Luke Page, Marc Ellison
Referee: Nick Vincent
Attendance: 229
