Report by Julian Tyley
Bay manager Jay Bates was delighted with his team’s 3-0 success at Crook Town and felt the margin of victory reflected their superiority on the day. Whitley went into the game just one point ahead of their County Durham rivals with expectations of a closely contested game but that is not how it turned out.
“They’re a decent team, the table doesn’t lie. They’d only conceded 35 which is the lowest behind Redcar so they don’t concede many goals. We knew that we had to be up for the game and that’s what the lads were from the off. It’s not a flattering scoreline either, 3-0 is probably what we deserved, possibly it could have been a bit more looking at the chances we created in the game. Dan hasn’t had to make a save throughout the full 90 minutes so yes, I’m pleased.
“We’ve got in behind their back line and its just the defender’s last ditch tackle or the keeper saved it. They make you work for the points. They’re a physical team and they play to their strengths which is a long ball, which is good for us when we’ve got Graham Williams and Mickey Scott at the back and Jakey just in front of them.”
Last week, Jay had highlighted his team’s need to improve in the final third. “It was something we worked on during the week in training. It was all about the final third and getting shots off, committing to overlaps and you’ve seen today how much higher Robbie and George were, they were certainly causing problems, as Robbie showed with his goal, so yes, it was something we worked with on Tuesday and it’s paid off.”
Jay quickly dispelled thoughts that there is little to play for in the final games of the season. “People say that, and you may think the play offs are out of the question which they probably are, but as far as the players are concerned, they’re playing for their positions next season so they’ve still got everything to play for. As a club we want to finish as high as possible but the players, they’ve got everything to play for and this is where I will take the opportunity to look at people to see where we’re going, looking forward.”
Playing conditions were far from ideal with a strong and gusty wind and a typical end of season playing surface. “You could see in the warm up that the pitch was very bobbly, it’s that time of the year when it’s going to be like that. We tried to do a lot of passing drills today and get them used to the surface. Yes, the conditions did play a part but I think we were fantastic today. I think we did try and play our football when we had the opportunity. Macca up front did well and although he didn’t get a goal he held it up well and he linked up the play. All round an excellent team performance.”
