SPENNYMOOR TOWN v WHITBY TOWN

FA Cup 2^nd Qualifying Round - 17 September 2016

Brewery Field is not, even on a sunny day like this, the most picturesque setting in non-league football but it is firmly rooted in its community, tucked in among the terraced houses of Spennymoor. But it is a neat, tidy and well-kept ground with terraces on all sides (covered at one end) and a sizeable grandstand straddling halfway.

Today’s cup opponents are Whitby Town, and with both teams starting well in the NPL Division 1 North, the contest should be even. A glance at the home team sheet shows continuity from last season’s promotion winning team; the visitors’ line-up also includes a few familiar names, mainly familiar from watching Guisborough last season, as new manager Chris Hardy has recruited the cream of his old Northern League team. It will be interesting to see how they perform at this higher level.

Spennymoor dominate the early possession, but make little headway against the Whitby back five; their most productive route seems to be via the tall number nine, Glen Taylor. He has a prodigious leap and wins plenty of flick-ons in the air. His problem is the referee who finds him over-physical and penalises him once or twice.

Twenty minutes in, it is another of the Spennymoor big men, centre half Joe Tait, who wins a telling header. From a corner he heads powerfully down but the ball is cleared off the line by a well-positioned defender.

After absorbing pressure Whitby begin to show ambition. With three centre halves in position the two full backs are given licence to attack and Danny McWilliams on the left sends over a deep cross that clears everyone except his opposite full back Callum Martin also well forward. His shot is well struck but too square and it flies across the six yard line unimpeded. Minutes later it is Martin who crosses, and when the defensive header drops just outside the box it is McWilliams on hand to shoot, albeit well over the bar.

Back at the other end Spennymoor still struggle to penetrate. A free kick 25 yards out provides an opportunity but Craig Gott’s effort strikes the wall and the ricochet is dealt with competently by the defenders.

So it remains nil-nil at half time, not through lack of commitment or skill, it is just well matched teams whose systems make for few chances. Spennymoor’s attack is narrow and finds little space among Whitby’s back five. Whitby’s main attacking threat is the full backs but their teammates up front are short on stature and get little joy out of Spennymoor’s twin towers of Joe Tait and James Curtis.

Early in the second half, out of nothing except possibly a failed offside trap, Whitby’s centre forward Mikey Roberts is suddenly bearing down on the Spennymoor goal. Keeper Dan Lowson rushes from his line and blocks well. Soon after Roberts is back in possession and the home defence back off inviting him to shoot. He obliges but hits wide of the mark. When his opposite number Taylor picks up a loose ball outside Whitby’s penalty area and shoots just wide, we have had more attempts on goal in fifteen second half minutes than the whole of the first forty-five.

When left back McWilliams is forced off with an injury Whitby replace him with Curtis Round, more a winger, possibly indicating a change in formation and a more attacking intent. And soon after Whitby produce the best move of the game so far as Steve Snaith, Mikey Roberts and Matty Tymon combine with the last mentioned firing in a fierce shot, well saved low down at the near post by Lowson.

Spennymoor respond with sustained pressure. David Dowson and Glen Taylor both have shots blocked. Taylor than has a penalty shout when he is barged over in the box; but the referee is unimpressed. Five minutes later, when a seemingly harmless high ball goes into the Whitby goalmouth, Taylor wrestles more effectively with his marker Luke Bythway and, with the defender on the floor, is able to shoot firmly through the keeper into the net.

The one goal may settle it, even with a quarter of the game to go, but Whitby dispute that hypothesis with spirited attacks. A sliced clearance and a Lowson flap give them a sight of goal but a side-footed effort is easily blocked by defenders guarding the line.

Spennymoor just need to survive a couple of free kicks from the right, one over-hit and the other well gathered by Lowson, and then see time out up near a corner flag, to ensure passage to the next round.

A game more for the purist at Brewery Field; tight and competitive rather than spectacular. After the goal feasts of the last three rounds a reminder that cup football comes in all shapes and sizes, but all an enjoyable part of a good cup run.