By Julian Tyley
Speaking shortly after Whitley’s 1-0 victory over Crook Town on Saturday, manager Jay Bates was clearly delighted with the three points against a side that has started the season strongly. “We knew it was going to be a hard game, Crook are thereabouts; they’ve had a good FA Cup run and they don’t concede many goals, and you can see why. They’re quite solid at the back and they played quite a physical game. It was a little bit like Tuesday against Heaton Stan and we just couldn’t hold on Tuesday, but it was good for us today that we could hold on for a 1-0 win.”
The only goal of the game came from Mikel Thompson, who earned praise from his manager. “He's got that in his locker has Mikel, he’s just struggling for fitness at the moment. It was a great ball by Cal Larmouth and we’ve seen it pre-season and the first game this season. When he does get into the box and gets one on one with the keeper, he usually does hit the target and it was a great finish.”
There were more chances in the first half as he explained. “Yes, there was another great ball by Cal into Kyle’s feet and unfortunately for him he pushed it onto his right foot rather than his left and he’s hit the keeper. It was a great save and it’s come across to Mackenzie two yards out but the defender’s managed to get across and block it on the line, so fair play to him.
“Cal can see passes and he does work hard off the ball. It’s hard for him when he’s up there (as the front man). He doesn’t like his back to goal but Mackenzie can play with his back towards goal and he brings other players into the game and gets the wide men in. He had a lot of the ball today Cal he knows he could probably have taken a couple of chances better himself and got a couple of shots off, but they defended well did Crook.
“We had more of the game second half. With Crook you could see what they’re about. They go very direct, put long throws into the box and play off Coleman. To be fair they gambled a lot in the second half they went to a 4-2-4 and they went very direct and long. It was a lot of pressure for the defenders that way, but when we got it down and played our football. We created a good few chances and yes we could have had a couple more goals. Mackenzie’s done very well out wide, took a couple on and laid it to Cal and being one on one with the keeper he usually scores but unfortunately this time it went straight to the keeper. We could have gone two up there, and then it would have been an easier end to the game.”
Josh Stewart has been unwell but Jay was grateful that he made the starting line-up. “Josh gave us 75 minutes and he was out on his legs. He’s had Covid the last few weeks and it’s obviously taken a lot out of him. He’s done us a favour by coming in and playing because he reads the game so well, so we said don’t do your runs, just try and read the game and keep our defensive shape well and we’ll be happy with that. Try and do 70 minutes, and that’s exactly what he’s done and when it got to that point he was dead on his legs and I had to take him off.”
For the last two games it has been a struggle to get enough players to make up the bench but there were options available on Saturday and three substitutions were made. “Yes things are improving and we’ve got couple more coming back in as well so it’s looking good, promising.”
The 354 attendance at Hillheads was the biggest of the weekend in the Northern League and the players appreciated the support from the fans. "The lads were saying when they were coming off the pitch 'isn’t it good when we win because everyone’s there behind us and all the kids were enjoying it', so thank you to the crowd for coming along.
"The pitch is in good condition, you can tell Jay and Davey have been on that pitch. That’s what they said they'd do when we came here. We like to get it down and play football and they said they will always try to make the pitch the best it can be, so we can get it down and play our football."
After playing twice a week for more than two months, there are no midweek games for the foreseeable future which is something of a relief to players, management and fans. “We can go to the training ground this week. We haven’t trained for a while. We’ve done a lot of the recovery side of things because the games are taking a toll on the lads, especially when you haven’t got a massive squad. You’re doing a lot of travelling and a lot of midweek games. It’s difficult; lads are giving up a lot of time with work and it’s good to have that week’s breather so they can get their recovery done early and get on the training ground on Thursday or Wednesday.”
