Report by Julian Tyley
Whitley Bay manager Jay Bates acknowledged that the penalty decision which led to the only goal of the game against Carlisle City was a controversial one but felt that with better finishing, the margin of victory would have been greater.
“Carlisle were always going to make it tough, they make it into a battle. They’re never easy games against Carlisle. I thought we held our own. The lads in the middle, Jake and Meeshi, were outstanding today. They won everything in the middle of the park.
“We got there and got the win, so we’ll take that. However when we got to the final third, the pull backs and the chances that we had, the mis-cues, it was lack lustre.
“We’ll look back on the game and think ‘was it a penalty or was it not?’ The referee stands by his decision that it was. The ref says the keeper’s caught the ball and Micky Scott as well, but for me it wasn’t a penalty. However in the second half I think we should have had a penalty so it evens itself out in the end. Mackenzie was wiped out from behind inside the box but the free kick was given the other way.
Callum Larmouth made no mistake with a powerfully struck spot kick and Jay pointed out “ That penalty takes him to 18 for the season so for a midfielder, which is the position he’s been this season, it’s been good returns for Callum.
“However the front three, and even the two that have come on, were just not taking the chances in the final third and that’s what it’s been like. I think we’ve failed to score in 10 games this season which is not good enough, especially for the forward power that we’ve got.
“The subs we used, Kyle and Regan, were both disappointed not to start, which is what you’d expect and you could see it when they came on, they gave extra energy, they harassed the defenders. I think Kyle was the better of the two if I’m being brutally honest. I thought he had a couple of chances, got in behind but as I say it’s the final third, we’re getting in positions but it’s decision making that’s the problem, we were in that position when we were pulling it wide and across the box, it just wasn’t happening, we were stuttering.”
Whitley came close to doubling the lead seven minutes into the second half with one of their best attempts on goal. “Mackenzie’s header from the corner just after half time hit the bar. If that had gone in I think we’d have gone on to win quite comfortably.”
At the other end Carlisle rarely troubled the Bay defence. “I don’t think Dan’s made a save until the 70th minute. They’ve broke quite well. Robbie’s tried to shield the player but he’s got in front of him and pulled it across the box and he’s scuffed it to Dan but that was really the only shot on target where they’ve troubled us.
“Late on they brought Kirkup on and tried to go direct playing for second balls, but I thought the two at the back, Micky and Graham, dealt with that quite reasonably with Jakey in front of them.
“I know it’s a 1-0 and Carlisle would be thinking it’s not a penalty but it was a comfortable 1-0 once we were in front.
“If you look back at the second half I would say we had about 70% possession and were driving at them. Our energy levels in the second half were second to none. After the game I said to Robbie ‘second half from the first you were a different player’. Meeshi was making those runs, Jakey ran his socks off in the middle of the park, won every second ball and like I said the two subs that came on drove at them into the final third but unfortunately they didn’t create good enough opportunities.”
Josh Stewart has been out of action since suffering an injury at Kendal last month but the manager revealed there was good news regarding the player who had been virtually ever present until his injury. “Josh has returned to fitness, he trained on Thursday and did the warm up and he’s ready to play but we didn’t need to bring him on. We were quite comfortable so I didn’t need to bring Josh, Fin or Parky on to see the game out.”
