February 17th 2015 Blyth Spartans (a)

Trepidation was the word to describe my feeling as I set off to pick up new member of the crew (who I have decided to call Neily New (I know it's lame but until he comes up with a better nickname it stays...the challenge has been thrown down, mate). With the last Whitley Bay victory over a month and a half ago added to the fact that eleven goals had been conceded for a solitary reply and that tonight's Northumberland Senior Cup Semi final was against a team from a couple of leagues above us...a hammering seemed the only outcome.
For driving Neil to the game he very kindly insisted on paying me in, which was cost him the princely sum of five of your English pounds. There was also the shock of being asked the equally royal sum of two English pounds for their programme, however, and this is no slur on the Whitley programme which is probably produced on a shoestring budget and I always enjoy buying from our lovely programme sellers, it had shiny paper throughout and a number of articles from fans, colour photos and also...most importantly a fixtures double page that told you who played in which game and how many goals they scored etc...like we used to have. Suppose that is what you expect in Evostick Premierland but it was nice: the difference between leagues..even though their attendances are not all together different: last Blyth game attracted 346 with 503 for a Saturday game. With the Bay in the doldrums, yep we are, most definitely, our last crowd was 242 and that is a bad one for us. There isn't that much difference between the two clubs (obviously we are better normally - they just happen to be higher up than us!)
 Just like Whitley there was a photocopy of the team sheet that was donated for photographic purposes by Doug from the club shop as he wandered around the ground. I still had to refer to it on numerous occasions to answer the question:
"Who he....?"
Neil and I stood in the large terraced shed-like stand opposite the main stand and there seemed to be a distinct lack of away supporters there, probably preferring to stay at home and watch the equally dislikeable Paris St Germain and Chelsea in the Champo League.

1-0 to the mighty Bay!

After an initial (although expected) shock of Blyth almost scoring there was an even bigger shock as Watling managed to slip the ball through to Birdie: a Blyth defender deciding that it was hardly worth bothering to stop him. Robbie then produced a sublime chip that flew over the Blyth keeper and nestled delightfully in the Blyth net. If anyone had any doubts that Neil and I were supporting the Bay our cheers ended them. In fact it downright annoyed the young ginger Blyth fan to our left who was disgusted we were allowed to stand near him. "They should be over there...not here!" he told his dad who replied by telling him to shut up. He then spent the rest of the half complaining to his dad every time, on rare occasions, he heard us using inappropriate or colourful language. I did feel remorse and decided that I must remember not to say the words "damn, blast, bloody or even Norah"at the match. Luckily his stomach took hold after a while so he bombarded his poor dad with requests for hot chocolate, chips, hot dogs instead....

The studious Neil....
but where's the ball?

The Bay players impressed Neil so much that he commented that they had "obviously had their Weetabix that morning". In fact there was concern for Blyth's number 2 as he succumbed to the sheer brute force that is the man mountain Alex Kempster. He came away from one altercation with a bloody nose and wobbling head.
Our young friend however let himself down when Kempster went down by shouting "Get up you pussy" then spent the next few minutes as Alex limped about making miaowing noises and calling him "Kitty Cat".
As the half time approached Blyth besieged the away goal but their shooting was extremely wayward...even comical at times. There was even a chance for Watling to put us 2-0 up but his 'pace' failed him and under pressure managed only to shoot weakly. One more chance for Robbie to score but he was closed down instantly and we were delighted to still be 1-0 up.
At the beginning of the second half ex Whitley golden boy Jarrett Rivers was brought on and then proceeded to tumble at every opportunity. Surely he didn't do that for us did he? Course not.
The Whitley goal continued to live a charmed life with McAfferty proving to be a great acquisition in the Bay goal as he commanded his area. Whitley almost sealed the win when Kempster drifted in on goal before the ball ended up at Robbie's feet, who tried to find himself more space instead of hitting it first time with the goal at his mercy. This allowed Blyth to recover and the best chance of the half for Whitley had gone.
By now Robbie Dale and Rivers were showing all the tricks we had learnt to love them for at Hillheads and it was no surprise that in the 89th minute Blyth equalised. However it was extremely sickening.
In extra time Whitley managed to hold onto more of the play but Blyth were still creating the better chances. It was no surprise when Blyth's Maguire scored and then added a second. Despite the fact that Chow sidefooted wide straight after, there was no denying Blyth deserved their win, although the Bay deserved a result for their battling performance. Whisper it but Paddy's boys could be getting their act together.
One last piece of advise is that when your football match goes to extra time, don't forget to tell your wife that you will be late back....or even forget to look at your phone: otherwise you will be sleeping in the shed! Oops!