Report by Julian Tyley
After their hard fought 3-2 victory at Carlisle City on Saturday Whitley Bay players were in great spirits, none more so than defender George Brady who headed home the winning goal with just eight minutes remaining.
George was delighted with the outcome “Absolutely, I think the lads worked hard, especially considering the conditions with ten men.” The red card midway through the second half was a decision which he felt was very harsh but he added “The lads put in a good shift and we got the reward out of it.”
Whitley made an excellent start with Meeshi Kanda scoring his first goal for the club. “Absolutely, yes, it was a great finish. Meeshi’s always been a great player so it’s good to have him in the team.”
George was quick to acknowledge that Carlisle battled their way back into the game and made it difficult for Whitley. “They did, I feel like Carlisle City are always a very high battling team. They always put in a good shift but I think our quality showed through to the end and I think we deserved the three points.
“We put in the shift; we won last week (against Crook Town). We got told in the changing rooms by Jay he wants us to start getting a few wins together in the league which the lads do as well and we did what he asked!”
At 2-2 and down to ten men, many sides might have been content to hold out for a point, but Whitley kept pushing forward and were rewarded with a third goal, following a right wing corner as George explained. “Matty Griggs took the corner, (Barry) Rizza told me not to go up but I could see that their player was following me so I thought I might as well just add a body in the box and cause some more mayhem in there, and it fell perfectly. Not a bad strike was it?” he added with a broad smile on his face! “It was my second goal this season, I scored against Marske (coincidentally also in a 3-2 win), but yes, I was thrilled.
“We want to push for play offs. We had a bit of a shaky start to the season but once we get that momentum going, I don’t think there’s many teams who will be able to take three points away from us on our day.”
There was a special word for new signing Alfa Djalo, who has arrived on a dual registration with Northern Premier League side Hebburn Town. “Jay’s bringing in players like Alfa, who today was brilliant. He added lots of support on my side (of the pitch). It’s good to just build the squad up and add some more foundations. We’re starting to build a really good group. Everyone’s always good crack in the changing room, I can’t fault them on that.”
