BEVERLEY TOWN 2 WHITLEY BAY 3
Emirates FA Cup Extra Preliminary Round
Sunday 4th August
Report by Julian Tyley
Whitley survived a second half comeback from Beverley Town to secure victory and earn their place in the Preliminary Round of the FA Cup after an enthralling tie in East Yorkshire.
Three goals ahead shortly after half time it looked plain sailing for Jay Bates’ men but Beverley scored twice in eight minutes midway through the half to set up an exciting final quarter of the contest.
The home side were competing the FA Cup for the first time in more than 100 years and following their promotion through the play offs last season, there was great enthusiasm in the town and a bumper crowd on 912 fans, the biggest in all of the 221 ties, packed into Norwood Park. The game was moved to Sunday to accommodate the town’s cricket club, who share the facilities of the recreation ground.
Whitley named a starting eleven that was unchanged from their first two league games for what was the first ever meeting of the two sides.
After a fairly quiet opening, it was the home side who got the first attempt on goal, but Snelgrove’s 8th minute attempt was off target. Moments later at the other end, Kyle Cockburn tested Dash with a shot that the young keeper pushed wide.
The game really burst to life one minute later when Cockburn’s corner was headed goalwards by Jake Forster but his effort was cleared off the line by the arm of Kai Larkin. It was a clear penalty and to compound the misery for Beverley, the midfielder was shown a red card.
Joe Robson confidently converted the penalty, sending Dash the wrong way from the spot to put Whitley ahead and leaving the Beavers to play the remaining 80 minutes with ten men.
Undeterred, they responded well with striker Danny Earl attempting a shot from out on the right but Gladstone saved comfortably. Two minutes later the hosts won a free kick out on the left and when it was played into the box, the ball was struck onto the post before being cleared.
With 27 minutes played, Mikel Thompson played in Jos Storr but his shot went just the wrong side of the post.
Five minutes before the interval Snelgrove drove a shot straight at Gladstone with the Bay keeper collecting the ball safely.
Cockburn then made a good run down the Bay right but his cross from near the by-line was blocked. When Christie played a good ball down the line to Paterson, Dash came out to save well.
Thompson, who had picked up a leg injury earlier in the half was substituted shortly before the break with Shane Donaghey taking his place.
With the game approaching stoppage time, Gladstone punched the ball clear from Earl but when play quickly switched to the other end, Forster on the right played the ball into midfield where Donaghey sent it out left for Paterson to race forward, taking the ball past Dash before slotting home from a tight angle to double Whitley’s lead with just seconds of the half remaining.
After the interval Whitley were quickly back in their stride and when Donaghey played the ball through to Storr, the young striker was denied by a fine save with Dash pushing the goalbound shot round the post.
When Cockburn took the corner out on the right, he floated the ball deep into the box where Joe Robson escaped his marker to head home a third goal and seemingly put the game beyond Beverley.
The home side were lacking power in attack and this was evident when Earl made a dangerous looking run on the right but there was no one in the box to take advantage of his cross and Gladstone was untroubled.
Twice in the space of a minute, Dash came to rescue of the Beavers, firstly keeping out a shot from Storr with his feet then doing even better from the resulting corner when his defence once again failed to deal with the ball and Kanda sent a bullet header towards the top corner of the net but Dash got a hand to the ball and superbly pushed it over the top.
The value of his saves was proved crucial two minutes later when Earl broke away down the right and this time his cross was met by Connolly who headed home to reduce the arrears.
With half an hour still to play, Beverley immediately made a double substitution and the fresh legs together with the backing of the crowd lifted their performance level. Hill fired just wide then Bay sub Thomas Wilson had an attempt pushed wide by Dash.
With 67 minutes played, Snelgrove played the ball across goal and it was not cut out, leaving Suluburic to smash the ball beyond Gladstone to make it 3-2 and give the home side real hope of turning the game on its head.
Bringing on further substitutes invigorated Beverley and despite their one man disadvantage, they forced Whitley back on the defensive. Connolly went close with Gladstone pushing his shot clear then Earl was denied by the Bay keeper. Appeals for a penalty by the Beavers were ignored with 8 minutes left and for a while Whitley struggled to retain possession, but they gradually weathered the storm and after an agonisingly long period of added time, the final whistle brought celebrations among the travelling fans whose long journey had been made well worthwhile.
It had certainly been a creditable performance by the hosts who had played their part in a thoroughly entertaining cup tie.
The victory for Whitley brings over £1000 in prize money and another away tie in the next round, at former Northern League rivals Newton Aycliffe on 17th August.
WHITLEY BAY; Gladstone, Brady, Christie(Parkinson 71mins) Forster, Robson, Stewart, Paterson(Wilson) Kanda, Storr, Thompson (Donaghey 43mins) Cockburn
Caution: Kanda
Referee: Jonathan Walker
Attendance: 912
