Report by Julian Tyley
Whitley were held to a 1-1 draw at Hillheads by Easington despite scoring early and dominating the first half.
Assistant Manager Barry Rizza summed up the game by saying “We’ve had more chances and more shots off than we’ve had for weeks. Luck’s just not falling for us at the moment. They’ve had one chance at the end of the first half and they’ve took it.”
It all looked very promising when Callum Larmouth fired home a great shot after just three minutes. “Callum took the goal really well early on and he’s looking sharper now. He’s probably had 5, 6, maybe 7 shots on target today and I think he was unlucky only to get the one goal”.
Having dominated the first half, Whitley conceded an equaliser just before half time and on the resumption, Easington looked a more confident side. “They grew into the game. They looked a bit more dangerous in the final third, but I still think it’s tough for us to come away with just a 1-1 draw. I think we deserved more.”
Two first half injuries to Bay players were causes for concern as Barry explained. “Regan went straight to hospital and they rushed him into an x-ray straightway It doesn’t look good so fingers crossed for him.” The news later came through that Regan had suffered torn ligaments which will inevitably keep him sidelined for some time.
The other injury, just before the interval, saw Robbie Christie forced out of the game. “He took a knock to the head and was a bit dizzy. I think he’s got a bit of concussion so we need to keep an eye on him as well.”
“It hasn’t fallen for us today but I’m saying to the lads. we’ve just got to stick together, keep doing the hard work, do the basics right and I do believe it’ll come together.”
