Second Qualifying Round 1 October 2011

WHITBY TOWN V NORTH FERRIBY UNITED

On a warm Indian summer day Whitby is the obvious choice for the second qualifying game (made by a wife and son who thereby get a lift to a favourite location for a day out). Arriving early doors there is time enough to enjoy a bag of chips on the cliff top before strolling to the Turnbull Ground.

It is £8 to get in and £2 for a programme that is thicker than a Whitby chip butty. Northern Premier League prices, but a smart NPL ground with a steeply raked, blue-seated main stand which offers welcome shade and, from the top row, glimpses of both the sea and the moors. With plenty of time to kick off the programme is read cover to cover and reveals, amongst other things, that the teams met famously in the 1997 FA Vase final, with Whitby victorious.

The teams eventually emerge sporting distinctive strips; Whitby in blue with a smart white, red & black trim; Ferriby in yellow with a thin green line around chest & shoulders. It is the “blues” of Whitby that have the best of the early action; Ferriby giving up possession too easily and their keeper has to make several interventions. The best of these is in response to a dipping volley from wide on the right which he tips over via the crossbar. This is followed up by a punched clearance from a goal mouth scramble and a safely handled 25 yard pile driver of a shot.

With half time approaching the action switches to the other end and from nowhere a well struck Ferriby shot canons of the left hand post and out to the right wing. Ferriby have sufficient forward to gather the rebound first, cross it, get a shot in, and when that is well save by the keeper, have Gary Bradshaw on hand to slot in that rebound. One nil to Ferriby and (according to the well thumbed programme) Bradshaw’s 201^st goal for the club.

Whitby try to respond in the 7 minutes left in the half, but too often now the Ferriby keeper is fielding rather than saving the ball, so it remains 1-0 to the away team when the whistle goes. The goal, though against the run of play, should be good for the game. Whitby have looked the better side and seemed comfortable coasting along at 0-0, but now they will need to step up the pace and intensity in the second half.

And they do. Six minutes in, the big centre forward Callum Hassan (programme note: on loan from Hartlepool) finally uses his considerable bulk to bully Ferriby off the ball and pass it out to the right winger who hangs up an inviting cross literally at the back post. Five players converge, including the back pedalling goalkeeper, but it is the man who started the move who uses his momentum and height to get his head to the ball and send it, and anyone in the way, into the net. One all and game on!

The home crowd sense things are now back in control as they continue to dominate territory and possession, but then an innocuous Ferriby run inside the 18 yard line is interrupted by a needless trip and the award of a penalty. Wayne Brooksby hits it high and straight and the keeper, who started to go to his right, sticks out a firm left hand to parry and keep the scores level.

As the half wears on the tension rises and although Whitby continue to press, Ferriby look potentially dangerous as they try to exploit the gaps left behind the attacking Whitby midfielders. However the two Whitby centre halves are effective in snuffing out any threats and getting the ball forward again. At the other end Ferriby’s defending is becoming increasingly desperate and three bookings are issued in ten minutes.

With just three minutes of the ninety left a bout of header tennis is ended by some composure from Whitby’s Lewis Hawkins, who takes control and gets off a firm shot. The keeper saves well but Jake Faichney, newly on as substitute, sweeps in the loose ball for what looks like a late winner. Cue celebrations and a chorus of “I feel blue” from the home PA.

Ferriby now push men up front but to no avail as the Whitby centre halves continue to show great energy and anticipation in dealing with this late surge. After a nervy added 3 minutes the game ends in a 2-1 home win; Whitby’s cup run will go on but North Ferriby United must return to the north bank of the Humber and await next year.