Report by Julian Tyley
Whitley Bay coach Gary Somerville acknowledged that opponents West Allotment Celtic had made his side work hard for their Newcastle Flooring sponsored Northumberland Senior Cup victory at Hillheads.
Whitley won the 1st Round Cup tie 2-0 thanks to two spectacular goals in the first half but could not get a third goal that would have put the game beyond their local rivals.
“I think it was a hard fought result really. They were probably better than what we thought they were going to be. They worked hard and have got some good players. But we did what we needed to do and scored two good goals and are in the hat for the next round.”
Describing the goals from Mackenzie Sharpe and Mikel Thompson, he continued “The first one, Macca’s long range strike, I don’t think anyone thought it went in. No one was cheering at all but then the ref gave the goal and everyone started cheering. Mikel’s goal was something else, he cut in and put it in the top corner, a great finish!”
“I think they were within about 90 seconds of each other and they gave us that footing in the game . Until then, they (Allotment) were a little bit in charge I think, to be totally honest with you. We battled well, they battled well. I think it was a battling game. We scored the goals and had that bit of quality. I think that was the difference really.”
West Allotment had a lot of possession in the second half but Gary added “To be honest the only way we thought they were going to score would be from a set piece. I couldn’t see them cutting us open and scoring a goal against us. I think it was going to be more if we made a mistake.
“It was funny game really, it was never over, even thought we were 2-0 up, but we seemed to be in control of it.”
Scott McCarthy is continuing his long recovery following surgery last season and came off the bench for the final quarter of the game. “I think he’s 3 or 4 weeks away from being fully fit, the same for Ryan Higgins, they’re both good players and a good part of the squad.”
