CROOK TOWN 0 WHITLEY BAY 3
Saturday 29th March 2025
Match report by Julian Tyley
Whitley returned home from Crook with all three points after a convincing victory over a side who had been beaten only twice at home this season and with one of the best defensive records in the League.
Looking the better side from the start, Whitley were quicker to the ball, creating far more chances than in recent games and might well have won by an even bigger margin. With Graham Williams and Michael Scott dominant at the heart of the Bay defence, Crook were unable to seriously test Dan Gladstone as Whitley kept a clean sheet for the second successive week.
Conditions were far from ideal with a strong, bitterly cold wind swirling around the Millfield ground but Whitley adapted well, looking much the hungrier of the two sides.
The first chance came on the quarter hour after Mackenzie Sharpe was tripped just outside the box. Callum Larmouth struck the free round the four man wall and the ball crashed off the outside of the near post with keeper Tom Orton beaten.
Five minutes later, Sharpe was fouled on the left edge of the box and this time, Larmouth’s free kick was parried by Orton into the path of Williams who poked the ball narrowly wide of the far post.
The hosts were creating very little but a low cross from the left by-line by Jack Moody flew across the face of goal and away from danger with no Crook player on hand to apply the finishing touch.
A quick break down the left by Regan Paterson took him past his opponent but his lob over the keeper from well outside the box drifted wide of the far post.
Whitley continued to threaten the home goal and Lowery was only denied by a timely tackle after being played through inside the box.
Little more than a minute before the interval, the breakthrough came when George Brady took the ball along the edge of the penalty area before striking a low shot at goal. The ball was blocked by a defender but Regan Paterson struck the rebound first time into the roof of the net. The goal was no more than Whitley deserved and it was just the tonic they needed with the half time whistle not long delayed.
Within two minutes of the restart, Paterson nearly doubled the lead with a 20 yard shot from the left which curled inches past the far post.
Five minutes later, a long ball out of defence played Sharpe clear but under pressure from the advancing Orton and with the ball bobbling awkwardly on the surface, he put his shot wide.
Midway through the half, Robbie Christie made an attacking run down the left, exchanging passes with Sharpe before evading two challenges as he entered the box. He then slotted a left footed shot over the keeper for an excellent goal which doubled Whitley’s lead and put them firmly in control of the game.
The home defence, which had conceded less than a goal a game all season, looked vulnerable whenever Whitley pushed forward, as they continued to do. Sharpe and Lowery might both have added a third goal in the space of a few seconds, but Sharpe was denied by Orton while Lowery’s touch let him down and the keeper was able to gather the ball.
Thomas Wilson, one of four substitutes used in the final quarter of the game, almost scored within seconds of coming onto the pitch, cutting in from the left before firing a shot fractionally too high.
It was Jake Forster who got the final goal in the last minute of normal time, seizing on the ball from a throw in on the right before closing in and from just inside the right side of the box he drilled the ball beyond Orton and just inside the far post to wrap up the victory.
WHITLEY BAY: Gladstone, Brady, Christie(Parkinson 79mins), Forster, Williams(Parker 79mins), Scott, Paterson(Djalo 68mins), Kanda, Sharpe, Larmouth, Lowery(Wilson 75mins)
Substitute not used: Stewart
Referee: Joshua Hart
Caution: Williams
Attendance: 213
Match photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mcqweb/albums/72177720324764243
