WEST AUCKLAND TOWN 2-1 WHITLEY BAY

(Tuesday 20 March, 7:30PM)

A late winner by sub Jonathan Milroy capped an excellent victory over title chasing Whitley Bay on a cold night, with the snow thankfully holding off until after the final whistle.

The early initiative was handed, quite literally, to Whitley Bay in the 12th minute when the linesman flagged for handball against Karl Everitt as he came in to thwart an attack. West protested but Mark Sheeran kept his nerve to steer home the penalty into the corner of the net giving Mark Bell little chance. West went up the other end and thought they had a penalty of their own after strong protests by the players but this appeal was waved away. Brian Fairhurst then saw his free kick turned round the post by Chris Bannon as West pressure increased.

However Whitley were dangerous going forward although Kevin Walton's shot lacked power in the 18th minute giving Bell a comfortable save. Danny Richmond then showed his pace running at the last man before seeing his shot deflect narrowly wide for a corner. Garry Barnes set up strike partner Lee Ellison with a chest back minutes later but the shot was well blocked by the defender. The pair were to link up again in the 23rd minute though to produce a deserved equaliser. This time a 1-2 between Barnes and Ellison saw Barnes fire a shot past Chris Bannon from the edge of the area and draw the teams level. There were little other shots on goal following this although West survived a scare in injury time when a quick move found Wayne Phillips in acres of space, his shot cannoned off the underside of the bar before Phil Bell stroked home the rebound only for an offside flag, presumably for Phillips, to be raised.

Whitley Bay caused their own problems at the start of the second half when a sliced clearance from a corner saw the goalkeeper having to block and clear the ball away to safety. Bay responded with a snapshot on the edge of the box go well wide before Robbie Livermore fired a volley well wide following a flick on. Garry Barnes fired wide showing West were still dangerous but it was Whitley who should have taken the lead in the 68th minute. A dangerous cross was headed across the face of goal, also going just to far in front of Phil Bell for the forward to produce the finishing touch. 4 minutes later Mark Sheeran beat Mark Bell to a corner but could only head narrowly over the bar.

Whitley were nearly made to pay when, in the 77th minute, Danny Richmond burst clear, latching onto Lee Ellison's through ball, only to fire into the side netting. However the visitors did not heed the warning and fell behind in the 84th minute when Karl Everitt's free kick was flicked goalwards by Ian Maddison and bundled in on the line by substitute Jonathan Milroy. Whitley responded with a wild shot over the bar and, in the last minute of normal time, Mark Sheeran found Anthony Woodhouse whose shot on the turn was held by Mark Bell. West held on despite five and a half minutes of injury time.

Team
    1 Mark Bell
    2 Michael Heckley
    3 Danny Key
    4 Jamie Middleton
    5 Brian Fairhurst
    6 Leigh Grant
    7 Lee Ellison
    8 Danny Richmond
    9 Ian Maddison
   10 Garry Barnes
       (13 Jonathan Milroy)
   11 Karl Everitt