By Julian Tyley
The 5-0 win at Northallerton on Tuesday night ensured Whitley’s place in the end of season play-offs with three games still to play. It was just the outcome coach Gary Somerville had been looking for and sent the travelling Bay fans home happy.
“We needed the result, coming down here, an hour and a half’s drive, and with a couple of lads missing. With Michael Scott on holiday we had Mikel (Thompson) taking over as captain. He did well and to be honest I thought everybody did well.”
Giving credit to Northallerton, Gary said “They were pretty unlucky really, because they could have scored and gone 1-1. It could have made it harder, it would have given them a lift and made them harder to break down, but I think we’d still have won. But Mauro blocked the ball, we went straight down the other end and scored to go 2-0, just what you need. Then we went up and scored again, 3-0, and got a fourth.
“I think the game was dead at half time for them. After that we’ve just done what we needed to do, score another goal, so we did really well to be honest.
“I think sometimes when you come to places like this and they’ve lost their manager and a couple of players, it can turn into a banana skin but we’ve done it well tonight. We’ve come down and scored five goals, never conceded, so there’s not much more really you could ask from the lads to be honest.”
Mackenzie Sharpe’s first half hat trick obviously caught the eye and as Gary said, “If Macca can score his first chance which he did tonight, he’ll go on and score two or three because he builds that confidence and belief in himself. When he scores he’s one of those who keeps scoring.”
A trade mark free kick from Callum Larmouth brought his goals for the season to 13. Gary joked “Cal’s already asked me to mention his free kick. To be honest I think everyone jumped over it!”
Several of Whitley’s youngsters, given their chances with others missing, certainly impressed the management.
“You try your best to give them as much time as you can. I think Alan (Achuo) and Owen (Lees) both have been on the bench a lot. They’ve waited their turn, been very patient, did exactly what they needed to do. They’ve never moaned once about game time. They’ve come in and Alan was very good tonight, Owen was very good as well when he’s come on. I thought Archie did well when he came on for 15 minutes, so it's good all round.
“A good thing about the squad now is it is young. We’ve got a few older heads there’s a good mix between them and everybody gets on well so I think we’re building for the future.”
