Recap
HOOPS BEAT BAY FOR SECOND TIME IN A WEEK AFTER SEVEN GOAL THRILLER
A 4-3 win gave Birtley an early season double over Whitley Bay after a rampant first half.
Birtley have had a habit this season of their games having early goals sometimes for them and sometimes against them. Saturday was no different as it took only four minutes to open the scoring albeit extremely fortuitous. The Whitley Bay defender attempted to clear the ball and it cannoned off James Proctor from the edge of the area and rebounded into the net. And on 13 minutes it was 2-0. Birtley pressed the Bay defence and a good bit of play from Proctor and Harry Gettins down the right ended with a ball played in and Liam Wotherspoon ran in and finished low past the keeper to score his first goal since returning to the club in the summer.
An excellent start for Birtley got even better after 33 mins. Whitley Bay had just had a chance through on goal moments before but Sam Hedley broke town the attack and started a counter of our own. Cue an excellent passing move involving seven precise passes and Charlie Aitken was left to slide the ball into the bottom corner. The home side were still having occasional positive spells and once again broke through on goal but this time Alfie Gordon pulled off an excellent stop to parry wide. On fourty minutes and Reece Harrison rattled the bar from a free kick on the edge of the area.
Then cue a few minutes of chaos for Birtley out of nowhere. First, on 44 mins, a flick on was converted by Lennox Magalhaes. Then a couple minutes into additional time a similar move lead to a similar flick on as the Hoops defence dropped deep and this time Nathan Nkunku was on hand to make it 2-3 just before half time with very different team talks on the way to those planned five minutes previous.
Half Time: Whitley Bay 2-3 Birtley Town
Regan Paterson replaced Charlie Aitken at half time and Birtley came out once again looking like the side that had controlled large spells of the first half. Matty Ward shot just wide from a narrow angle after great work from Gettins and Paterson on the right. Then on 53 mins Reece Harrison was forced off with a knock and Sam Dinsley replaced him. Whitley Bay still fancied themselves on the counter and Alfie Gordon was again forced into a save before collecting the resulting corner.
Substitute Sam Dinsley produced two excellent defensive contributions in quick succession. First he blocked a cross when the hosts were in a dangerous position, before sweeping in to intercept a through ball, before offloading to Owen Lancaster. The right wing back delivered a great ball over to James Proctor who danced past his defender and scored a second of the game. The Bay continued to threaten once again with Alfie Gordon once again equal to it as he finger tipped over the bar.
Hoops substitute Aaron Croft sprayed a brilliant ball through the middle splitting the home defence but the shot on goal was saved. Owen Lancaster and Matty Ward both had further efforts as we headed into additional time. Owen’s effort from distance stung the palms of the keeper before Wardy again fired just wide from the angle. Into added time and sub keeper Ryan Hammer had to be subbed on in the final seconds as Harry Gettins had a knock, and Whitley Bay did manage to find a consolation in the final seconds, Alfie Livermore getting the goal.
Full Time: Whitley Bay 3-4 Birtley Town
An impressive performance which probably should have yielded a much more comfortable win than it did, but it did complete a league double over Whitley Bay and meant we bounced back from Tuesday’s agonising defeat to Bishop Auckland.
NEXT UP
On Tuesday we are back at home, as we host Thornaby at the Arrowmark with a 7:30 kick off. Then on Saturday we end our run of seven home games in eight as North Shields head down to face us with a 3pm kick off. Thanks to the Hoops who supported us on the road. Apologies for the lack of match report from Tuesday and preview for this fixture due to uni modules being due. Normal service has been resumed.
UP THE HOOPS
