Birtley Town vs Whitley Bay

Recap

Birtley Town recorded a league double over play-off rivals Whitley Bay as a crowd of 406 packed out The Arrowmark Home Improvement’s Stadium on Saturday

Birtley made just one change from the side that beat Carlisle City on Tuesday. Alfie Gordon returned in place of Conor Grant. Alex Francis missed out due to injury but Liam Wotherspoon and Dan Wilds did manage to make the bench. It was Whitley Bay who created the first real opportunity, Cam Brewis found himself unmarked but his effort deflected off Callum Turnbull. Alfie Gordon was able to readjust and tip the ball around the post. Birtley started to grow into the game and should of been ahead on twenty minutes. Scott Heslop was causing problems and delivered a glorious cross from the right wing. Unfortunately for Birtley, the onrushing Lewis Exley could only manage to fire over the bar.

Exley had a superb long-range effort whistle narrowly wide on 30 minutes before Birtley did take the lead. A mistake from Cartwright allowed Matty Ward to steal possession, he squared to James Proctor who made no mistake from close range. Birtley doubled their advantage on 39 minutes. A neat one-two resulted in Heslop finding Ward, the Birtley number 10 coolly dribbled around Pickering before slotting into an empty net. In injury time,  Ward was brought down by Pickering when clean through on goal, the Whitley Bay keeper receiving a yellow card for his actions. 

Half-Time | Birtley Town 2-0 Whitley Bay

It took Birtley just four minutes to extend their lead. Liam Wotherspoon had replaced Ben Pentland shortly before the break and it was Spoony who delivered a whipping corner to the near post. Sam Hedley glanced a header towards goal but it was Matty Ward’s knee that got the final touch.

A defensive mix-up allowed Josh Gilchirst to pull a goal back for Whitley on 55 minutes. Home supporters were nervous of an immediate reaction from the visitors but it was Birtley who struck back within a minute. Matty Ward completing his hat-trick as he raced onto a through ball from Proc before calmly slotting home. Dan Wilds made his comeback from injury with 30 minutes left to play as both sides made numerous substitutions. Birtley were still probing to increase their lead and looked dangerous on set-pieces.

Liam Wotherspoon scored directly from a corner in the 68th minute in a similar set-piece to Birtley’s third goal. Bay managed to deny Stephen Hall from making it 6-1 when they managed to clear off the line. As the full-time whistle was blown, Birtley were rightly given a warm round of applause from the 406 in attendance, including a strong following from Whitley Bay. 

Full-Time | Birtley Town 5-1 Whitley Bay

The win ensured that Birtley remained in 4th position but importantly now sit eight points above Whitley Bay. Boro Rangers could only manage a 0-0 draw with Seaham which dampened their play-off hopes. West Auckland, Guisborough and Heaton Stannington all picked up wins over the weekend meaning that there is now four sides in contention for the final three play-off positions with Shildon almost guaranteed second place. 

Player of the Match – Matty Ward

Attendance – 406

Manager’s Corner

Paul Foster: “After the brilliant performance against Carlisle we went and bettered it with a great team performance against a very good Whitley Bay side. We nullified their threat going forward and took our chances at the other end. It was a brilliant day all round for the club with a very good support from the locals on Non league day, it makes all the work the volunteers and committee put in day after day. I am sure it made it worthwhile when we produce a result like that and having BBC radio Newcastle their as their game of the day, that just topped it off. All the work that has went on behind the scenes for the last 6 years or so was noticed and that’s down to everyone connected with the club, a great day all around.”

H2H v Whitley Bay (at Birtley)
This is the first competitive fixture against Whitley Bay at home.

Non League Day record (at Birtley)
P8 W4 D1 L3 GF20 GA11

Next up…

Birtley play another game in hand on Wednesday as they travel to Northallerton. Kick-off is 7.30pm. 

Highlights