WHITBY TOWN v MARINE

FA Trophy 1^st Qualifying Round

Visits to Whitby’s Turnbull Ground need to be carefully timed. Too early in the season risks getting snarled up in tripper traffic; too late and the dark drive over the moor top road can often involve rain, fog or snow. The end of October is ideal, bright and breezy today and the only trippers in town (other than Marine) are the Goths for one of their regular weekends.

Marine are no strangers, playing in the same Northern Premier League Premier Division; and having lost 3-2 here a month ago another tight game is expected. For Northern League regulars there are familiar faces in the Whitby team as manager Chris Hardy is keeping faith with the core of  his ex-Guisborough team he brought with him a year ago; also here now is John Campbell who has scored for a few, and against most, clubs in the North East.

The wind is getting up as the teams line up, Whitby in blue and Marine in amber and black. And the conditions may have played a part in an early error by Whitby centre half Niall McGoldrick, whose headed attempt to deal with a simple long ball is neither a decisive clearance nor a glance back to the keeper. Marine centre forward Danny Mitchley latches onto the loose ball, easily rounds the exposed keeper and slots the ball home for a three minute lead.

Whitby are unsettled by the poor start and for a while Marine look like adding more. But eventually the home team settles as midfield general Steve Snaith takes control. There are signs of hope for the home fans as John Campbell battles through two tackles but then fails to test visiting keeper Martin Fearon ; then a corner from the right sees Fearon flap ineffectively but escape punishment.

As half time nears, Whitby right back Connor Smith, not for the first time, makes good progress down the right and this time his angled pull back from the bye line finds left back Danny McWilliams lurking on the edge of the box. His right foot sweeping shot is goal bound and a slight deflection ensures Fearon has no chance of preventing the net bulging.

Other than the two goals it’s been competitive rather than entertaining, though one throw-in caused some merriment. Awarded to Whitby, one player retrieved the ball over the touchline and lobbed it underarm to a team mate still on the pitch who, instead of catching it and taking a legitimate throw, cushioned it on the thigh, turned and sprayed a pass forward to the indignation of the Marine players and bench. Where the referee and assistants were looking is a mystery.

From the start of the second half it is clear the breeze has freshened into a bit of a gale, and it is into Whitby’s face. The home team struggle to get the ball forward and most play settles in their own half. A Marine free kick from the left curls into the box and home keeper Daniel Dixon comes to collect, but is beaten to the ball by one of the attacking Mariners. He does connect with one or another of them but penalty shouts are waved aside and the header goes wide for a double escape.

Ten minutes later the Marine put in another free kick, this one from the right, and this time Dixon’s collision with George Lomax is harder to excuse and the referee, after waiting in vain for any advantage to accrue, awards the spot kick. Mitchley steps up and converts with ease.

Whitby try to increase the tempo but fail to create any rhythm or penetration, and soon are pinned back again. From nothing Marine right back Peter Wylie makes a darting run through a static defence and hits a shot that beats Dixon and rolls into the goal off the far post.

Still fifteen minutes left, and now 3-1 down, Whitby substitute the two strikers who’ve had no joy with the Marine defence. One of the newcomers, James Risborough gets an early chance but side foots a shot straight at the keeper’s legs from six yards out.

After that, other than a Whitby header from a corner that is blocked on the line, the game drifts to its natural conclusion – Marine progressing and Whitby Town out of the Trophy for this year.

RYHOPE C W v HARROGATE R A

FA Vase 1^st Round - 21 October 2017

The early Vase rounds give an opportunity to visit pastures new, and see unfamiliar teams, such as today with a trip to the Sunderland suburbs to see an inter-league, step five clash with Ryhope Colliery Welfare of the Northern League playing Harrogate Railway Athletic of the Northern Counties East. Both teams carry an industrial heritage in their names, though in both cases the underlying business has disappeared from the locality.

The ground is adjacent to the cricket pitch in the Recreation Park; easy to find and easy to park on the man road just outside. The welcome on the gate is warm and a fiver gains entry (for an old ‘un) and a programme. The pitch is well grassed with an unusually generous amount of land surrounding it. Opportunities for cover are limited – some seats behind one goal and a bit of a lean-to near the team benches on the half way line. Refreshments are plentiful though and the smell of chips is hard to resist as a cup of tea is procured.

A sunny start to the day has become blustery and rain threatens as Ryhope, in their variation on Sunderland stripes and Harrogate in all blue, emerge from the dressing rooms. The kick-off is on time despite a reported problem with the RA team bus not turning up and the players having to drive north.

After twelve minutes in which CW dominate, home full back Davey Gordon overlaps on the left, gains the by-line and tries to cross; a defender’s attempt to block at close range is successful but only due to an outstretched arm. The penalty is given by the referee and is duly despatched by captain Kyle Davis.

From then on the RA goal is under continuous pressure, and survives intact more through luck than steady defending. As the half hour approaches Davis finds colleague James Ellis is space in a crowded box, and the winger fires a cross shot into the net. Three minutes later Ellis shoots again, this time from a more central position, with the same result. Five minutes later the influential Davis beats the offside flag (if not the trap) on the right wing and his centre is dinked past the RA keeper by centre forward Josh Holme-Jackson for the fourth goal of the half.

Harrogate have proved lightweight up front for most of the half but with the interval imminent the right back battles forward into the box and his cross eventually bounces out to Albert Ibrahimi whose volley finds the back of the net. Whether a consolation or the start of a fight back only the second half will tell.

Within four minutes of the restart we get a clue when Holme-Jackson takes advantage of a poor RA back line and the benefit of the doubt from the linesman to race through and slot in number five. Confirmation of CW’s unassailability this afternoon follows shortly when Davis provides another assist, this time giving Ellis a tap in at the far post to complete his personal hat trick.

At 6 -1 Ryhope make a triple substitution, which gives Harrogate some respite for about fifteen minutes; although in this period they stem the tide only due a couple of desperate goal line clearances.

Eventually though Ryhope strike again when a high cross comes into the RA box. The two defenders and goalkeeper dither while Holme-Jackson simply nods the ball over the line from a few yards out. That’s his hat trick, and he adds another when Davis pinpoints a cross onto his stooping head.

The crowd (if fifty or so souls count as such) are debating how many that is (it’s eight); but as soon as they get near agreement another is scored. This time it is left back Davey Gordon who fires in from an overlapping position the left wing; barely has that registered when his oppo at right back hits a cross that drifts over the by now shell-shocked keeper and in off the far post.

That is finally it for Ryhope CW; a 10 – 1 win. Somewhere amidst the avalanche of Ryhope second half goals Harrogate did nearly score in a goalmouth scramble in which the ball was cleared off the Ryhope line three times, the final time by one of their own players, which sort of summed up their day.

Bedraggled by the now steady rain, beaten out of sight, and without even a bus ride home, Harrogate RA are well and truly out of the Vase. Ryhope CW will look forward to the second round draw but will not get an easier tie than this turned out to be. 

GUISELEY v SHILDON

FA Cup 4th Qualifying Round

The fourth qualifying round is a rarefied level for the likes of Northern League Shildon, a final hurdle before the first round proper, last reached by a team from that league in 2003 – by Shildon themselves. But opposition is stiff in the guise, so to speak, of Guiseley of the National League, four steps up.

The event warrants a rail trip via Leeds to the Yorkshire town and with the trains behaving well A Good Cup Run arrives in very good time, over an hour before kick-off. Time then to stroll up past Nethermoor Park to the White Cross Inn for an excellent hand-pulled glass of Hobgoblin, all the more welcome as the weather, though overcast, is unseasonably warm.

Refreshed, £10 gains entry to the ground and another £3 goes on the programme; pricey, but it is a glossy 56 page edition and showing it to an itinerant official entitles the holder to a free team sheet. With the sun now shining the pitch, well grassed and level, looks excellent; and the ground is tidy and well organised. In addition to a sizeable grandstand along most of one touchline there is covered standing opposite, and all around there are three or four steps of terracing enabling everyone to have a good view. Plenty of Shildon fans have made the trip and the attendance is later announced as nearly 800.

Apart from an early Shildon free kick that comes to nought, the action for the rest of the first half hour is firmly in the visitor’s half. At every opportunity Guiseley launch the ball high in a route one attack that gives the two big lads up front, Mike Fondop and Olukayode Odejaye every chance to use their height and strength against the Shildon centre halves. The tactic is supplemented by long throws from Darren Holden. How well the Shildon defensive pairing of veteran Kyle May and teenager Dominic Curl cope with the onslaught could decide the match.

That first half hour passes with a few alarms but without Shildon conceding; and getting some confidence from that, a rare attack provides Lewis Dodds with a chance from eight yards out. As he shoots keeper Jonathan Maxted is already at his feet to deflect the attempt wide for a corner.

The pattern of aerial bombardment continues to half time, still with no outcomes, relieved by the occasional Shildon break that produces nothing more than a scuffed shot wide from Adam Burnicle.

Guiseley start the second half in less frantic mode and when possession is turned over well forward on the right, the Shildon defence is caught out by a dribble and low cross that finds Fondop unmarked at the far post and free to tap home. Only minutes later another Shildon defender is pressured into giving up the ball deep and this time a square pass to Andrew Haworth enables him to run in and lift the ball calmly over the advancing Shildon keeper into the net.

The Shildon ship needs stabilising but Guiseley’s tails are up now. A through ball leads to a wrestling match between May and Fondop; May’s desperate efforts result in him hauling down Fondop at the cost of a penalty and (somewhat harshly, given the penalty award) a red card. John Rooney smashes in the spot kick and at three nil with only ten opponents on the pitch, Guiseley are home and dry.

For the remaining half hour of the game Shildon actually knock the ball about quite well, maybe because Guiseley are cruising, but once in their opponents’ half they never show any penetration. Guiseley play with the freedom the lead and man advantage allows and score at ten minute intervals. William Hatfield pokes one in during a goal mouth scramble; the same player takes advantage of a defensive slip in the box to slot in another; then just before the end Fondap gets the better of Curl on the edge of the box and hooks the best goal of the day into the top corner.

It has turned into the classic game of two halves and while Shildon can take honour from the first, prompting a precautionary announcement of the potential replay arrangements, Guiseley emphasised their status in the second and it is the National League team that will go into that coveted first round proper.

SHILDON V MARSKE UNITED

Northern League Division 1

Dean Street is not so familiar today as my usual haunt, the covered terrace opposite the main stand, has disappeared, demolished to make way for a new all-seater stand. Instead A Good Cup Run takes a seat in the main ‘Pagoda’ stand. Here seat choice is crucial if a view of both goals is wanted unimpeded by the substantial supporting pillars.

The teams are familiar enough, the home team pretty settled and the visitors packed with well-known Northern League stalwarts. These two teams have been top five finishers for the last few years and have both started this season well; Shildon are unbeaten and Marske have won eight out of ten.

The opening is cagey and competitive. It is nearly twenty minutes before any goal is threatened. Craig Gott smacks a twenty-five yard drive against the Shildon bar and keeper, Nick Liversedge, has to get back to his feet quickly to save the follow up attempt.

Shildon’s possession has little end product and Marske come close again when Liversedge is drawn out of position and has to rely on young centre half Dominic Curl heading the ball off the line.

Shildon start the second half better and a thrust down the left and along the goal line by Adam Burnicle creates a tap-in chance for Billy Greulich-Smith, which he gratefully converts. The home team can’t build on the lead and increasingly look to hold on to what they’ve got.

Marske create several openings but either fluff them under pressure or are foiled by last ditch tackles from Curl and second half substitute Kyle May. Just when it looks like Marske will never score, they do so from an unlikely angle; James Fairley takes a corner from the left that somehow evades the giant reach of Liversedge and goes straight into the net.

With time just about up it looks like honours even when Marske are awarded a free kick forty yards out. Quick thinking Fairley immediately puts the ball on the deck and lofts it over the unprepared Liversedge, who is left for the second time grasping at air as the ball sails over him and into the net.

There is barely time to kick off again before the referee ends the game. Shildon’s unbeaten start to the season is over and Marske have now won nine out of eleven, including this excellent scalp.