22nd August 2017 - Penrith (h) FAC QR

A late equaliser from a Potter-transformed Bay in Cumbria meant one aspect of football went my way after a disastrous trip to France. My beloved Lens had lost their fourth league game out of four to keep them joint bottom of Ligue 2. To add to the club's misery a section of the fans had  invaded the pitch during the game and demanded the coach's resignation. (For more see northernlensois.blogspot.co.uk
Tonight I was joined by Silly Andrew. Waiting outside the Seahorse for The Boy Mark to arrive, after dropping my wife off at the pub (long story but suffice to see Mark is a very kind man!), we leaned against the railings. At this point a fan-lady drove her car onto the pavement to park and promptly berated us for not  instantly moving out of the way of her car: pardon me good lady but last time I checked the pavements were for the walky-people and the roads for the wheelie-people. Silly and I were not impressed! Not wishing harm to anyone, karma may have struck, however, as we think we spotted a Penrith clearance rebound off one of the terrace roofs onto her head.
Hope she was okay: honest.
It was great to be joined by the effervescent Bob and Moira who, predictably, were going on about the shirt numbers and wondered whether the number 8 had been put on upside down...he's never happy. I don't think it has been but if anyone is an expert on the comic sans font and can help out, let me know. Also joining us was Running Keith who kept saying how exciting the game was: hopefully he'll be back soon.
There was no Thibault as he was enjoying himself in Southern France so Matty Cornish was given his first start while magic-man Potter replaced PGR (Peter Glen-Ravenhill). A fit-again Josh Nearney came back in for Reay.
Right from the off, the Bay were on the attack, keeping possession with some great football. Fears that we might miss the Call-ault duo ( Callum and Thibault) in the middle of the pitch were instantly eased. Cornish and Haley (Halish? Corney?) were everywhere, tackling, driving, prompting. For long periods of the game, Penrith hardly had a touch and when they did HallByerWilliNear (okay I'll stop this..sorry) showed similar amounts of skill, grit and determination. Surely we were on for a cricket score?

No! In one of Penrith's only serious threats on goal they scored: Jonny Murray scoring after a long throw. But back came the Bay with Potter continuing where he left off the previous Saturday. There was consternation in the visiting penalty area when keeper Stuart Dixon went down under a terrible challenge. A succession of corners saw the visitors fully stretched and their keeper was performing extremely well. However, they were clearly rattled. Their defenders argued with the ref that the Whitley players were being weally weally mean! The Allotment Enders behind the goal begged to differ...but then we would.

Everyone agreed that this had been one of the best halves from a Bay team, regardless of the fact that there were a lot of first team regulars missing.
The big fear in the second half was that the Bay would run out of steam, after the hard-pressing start so feared the worst when Penrith crept back into the game. Mistakes were being made by the home team and when a shot pinged against the crossbar, it looked only a question of time before they fluked the decisive second goal.
However the arrival of PGR and Glenn Reay, on for the hard-running and unlucky Blondie Patton and Michael Hall, energised the team. The attacks on Dixon's goal began again and with nine minutes to go the Bay were level.

All of Cornish's hard work was rewarded as he scored a curling wonder-goal. He was rather pleased.

Moments later the noise level from most of the 358 fans rose up a notch as Scott Jasper saw the ball bouncing agonisingly around his feet. Thankfully he managed to slot it past Dixon before he could snatch it. He celebrated with a repeat game of pile on.

It was all the Bay to the next round when Cornish ran onto a pass from supersub Liam Brooks and slammed the ball home. Cue pandemonium at Hillheads. 3-1 and the Bay were through to play Newcastle Benfield. Penrith had played an extremely hard and strong game but in the end the lads had managed to outwork and out muscle them. Every player was a credit to the Bay.
Morpeth? Never happened.
YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

12th August 2017 - Stockton Town (h)

Team sheet courtesy of Mr Twitter!

I'd missed the fantastic FA cup games against Seaham and the team's progression through to the FA Cup Preliminary Qualifying Round from the Extra Preliminary Qualifying Round (surely has to be a catchier name for these August rounds) due to a family holiday near Barcelona. Some supporter! I hung my head in respectful shame, of course. However the chance to watch the highlights thanks to the lovely people at WBFC was very welcome.
For the first time in quite a few seasons, I was back in time from my holiday to see the first league game of the season. This time we were up against the team that had unceremoniously dumped us out of the FA Vase the previous year: Stockton Town (That's Stockton with a K,  programme editor!) We were expecting a hard game against a strong set of visitors and that is exactly what we got.
New boy Scott Jasper, signed from North Shields Athletic, was leading the forward line and looked ready to bring the fight to the visiting defence. The top scorer in the the previous year's Northern Alliance, the debate still raged at the Allotment End about whether he was indeed one of Mr and Mrs Triallist's offspring. We decided he was and he certainly was doing them proud. Beating players with both strength and determination he was able to find space to fire just wide. This prompted the comment:

"Well done!"

"I got there first...."

"He ghosted in there like Jasper the friendly ghost!"
After stunned silence the penny dropped:
"That was Casper!" The search for Jasper's nickname continues.
Stockton were certainly not lying down and they dominated a first half that lacked any real quality. The best chance fell to Stockton but was cleared off the line.
The Bay looked sharper in the second half and when Jack Bryerley zipped down Whitley's right wing, there was Casper  sorry Jasper, ghosting in to slot home from a couple of yards. He certainly looked delighted unlike the bullet-blond-haired Kyle Patton who was just behind him.

There was concern soon after as the divot-watchers were alarmed to see a great hedgehog-shaped piece of turf appear, without being replaced by the green-clad Liam Jordan in the Town goal. Up until that point the money, time and effort spent re-laying the pitch had meant a perfect playing surface. We just hoped it wouldn't prove costly!

Back came Town and it was decided by the wise wizards behind the Stockton net that another goal would a good idea. So it was that great work from the Thibster saw the ball trickle through a multitude of bodies before Potter conjured up the final touch. 2-0 to the Bay and the crowd went wild!

Wild boys! Wild boys! Even Jeremy!

They liked it too! Jasper...the new Hulk?

The final word almost belonged to Kempsto but his shot rolled millimetres wide.
The team had been handed a difficult first game and dug deep to come up with the goods. By the end of the game, the Stockton players resorted to constantly berating and verbally abusing the referee, Helen Conley from Bishop Auckland, who looked, at one point, to have lost control of the game. It was disappointing to see them resort to this and in the end the Bay were comfortable 2-0 winners. What a great start!

29th July 2017 - Hartlepool (h)

Photo courtesy: Julian and Whitley Bay FC

Mmmmmm....
embroidered logo.
Nice.

More embroidery.....oh yes!

It has finally happened. For the first time since the Bay's adventures in the FA Vase reinvigorated my love for football, the Bay has a strip to be proud of. The embroidered club badge and Joma maker's logo was enough to sell it to me but added to that the big blue square on the back so that Bob and Moira can stop whingeing about not being able to make out the numbers...it all adds up to near perfection...without getting anywhere near personal fantasies.
The shirts that were produced for the FA Vase victories 2009-11 in their tens of thousands and lingered around longer than was hygienically sensible were screen-printed throughout, as were the ones that replaced them two years, or so, ago. I'm not talking about a desire for a new shirt every season or two, rather a good shirt that fans would be proud to wear. For me, an entirely printed shirt doesn't have that impact. So thanks Ann and all at H20 bathrooms for providing us with a shirt to be admired! Look forward to wearing this far and near (as long as the journeys are less than 45 minutes...ish).
NB it is also stylish enough to be worn in many of the establishments on Grand Parade!
Also exciting is the arrival of the cafe culture once again to the Bay. After witnessing other clubs efforts at the beginning of the previous season (Willington et al), some of the Bay fanatics have taken the official renaming of Tommy's Hut a step further and in conjunction with Charmey's Construction Club have gone for a themed approach. I'm sure it will catch on, shame they had to knock down the Aldi but I think it is an innovative and original design. Thibault likes it...

A forgotten corner of the Car Park Terrace no more!

For the final home friendly, it was another toughie. After destroying Toon United in the previous 0-0 draw, I had a feeling that today might be a match too soon. After all, these were a National League team, that had only last season been in League 2 so they weren't going to be pushovers. The size of them was marked from the outset as some were a good few inches taller than our tallest boys and they certainly looked strong! Having said that, the likes of Tom Potter, Peter Ravenhill and Callum Anderson look as if they have been visiting the fitness shop on Whitley Road as well as the gym at Waves Leisure Centre. They aren't going to be knocked over easily. Callum certainly looks to have turned a corner from the determined but sleight figure who couldn't decide whether he wanted to play or not a few years ago. He and Prof Wilkinson were up against it but with Flynn on top form, the defence only conceded once.
The goal that equalised Hartlepool's sixth minute lead came from more determined play from Potter, who had the confidence to take on his man and was brought down in the penalty area (an act confirmed by Julian's eagle-eyed camera work).

The man that is the heartbeat of the Bay team, Callum Patton, hit the resulting penalty with accuracy and confidence and the Bay seemed to grow in stature. Tom. Kyle and Peter chased forward at every opportunity and could have in fact earned the Bay a win but a 1-1 draw was nothing to be sniffed at. A 2-1 win away to Bedlington Terriers meant the Bay were unbeaten throughout the pre-season.For the first time in a long while, we were looking forward to the following week's FA Cup game at Seaham with some confidence. Fingers crossed! #htb

25th July 2017 - Newcastle United U23s (h)

The Bay team courtesy of Mr Twitter

Newcastle teamsheet courtesy of @whitleybayfc

The lads had played well against lesser opposition and won but it was time to measure themselves up against the boys (albeit younger boys) from the big town. For the first time this season The Boy Mark and I were there before kickoff: although strictly speaking we didn't see kickoff: a buildup of traffic at Morrison's roundabout. There was a big queue to get in which we managed to stay calm about thanks to a spot of controlled breathing and recital of thrash metal classics. 

Relative peace and quiet of the far end of the ground...
the rest of the 861 crowd preferred the other sections. 

The first half was a quiet affair generally. We managed to stay far from the madding crowd but for the second half we had to shoe-horn ourselves into the Car Park End terrace.

A big crowd is always good for the club but for us regular old gits they also cause problems.

1. Queues at turnstyles, tea huts, bars etc

2. Removal from favourite spot.

3. Greater chance of being recognised by kids taught and therefore slight restraint needing to be shown whilst hurling abuse at...whoever.

4. Disturbance of moments of personal contemplation (not all footballing) by constant chatter of slightly disinterested and not total devotees of comparable team tactics during a 0-0 draw or the latest happenings on Game of Thrones.

5. Kids making noise, charging about during aforementioned 0-0 draw, fetching errant balls, playing hide and seek whilst failing to applaud my volleyed back-heeled flick to return a ball into the hands of United's waiting keeper: the impressive Harker.

Yes my membership of the grumpy old men's club was certainly renewed last night but it was great to see a big crowd at Hillheads. The game, in my opinion was entertaining with a lot of desire on both sides. Mrs Twitter in Tommy's Tea Hut was certainly running around like a blue-arsed fly, although at no point, I must add, did she look like a BAF. Another great evening of dedication from Mrs T: both to marriage and club: well done Julie! It certainly was a shock to the old system!

Nashie had the lads working hard and they controlled the centre of the park, making United rely on crosses which were dealt with superbly by Professor Wilko and co. In the absence of any Trialists, we had a team of named players who, when brought on, performed exceptionally well. Towards the end of the game it was the blue and whites who nearly tipped the balance but a 0-0 draw was a fair result and a great one for the home fans. Despite this scoreline, there were plenty of chances and both the Mighty Flynn and Harker in the Newcastle goal looked solid, coming up with crucial saves on a number of occasions. Potter, Ravenhill and Charmey were amongst most of the Bay's forward play while Haley never stopped running and was a constant thorn in Newcastle's side. 

Here's to another super result and big crowd on Saturday. I promise that I won't complain if we get another big crowd for the home game against Harlepool! #htb

22nd July 2017 - New Mills

Whitley Bay FC‏ team v New Mills

Starting XI : Flynn, Glen-Ravenhill, A.Trialist, Wilkinson, Anderson, Charmey, C.Patton, Potter, Kempster, K.Patton, A.Trialist

SUBS : Hall, Haley, A.Trialist, Summers, Cunningham

It is always nice to see the Trialist family well represented at pre-season, despite the fact that none of them ever make it into the regular season team. I have a feeling that Mr and Mrs Trialist have one of the big houses on the sea front opposite the Links. Their house must be filled with a never-ending production line of average but not startling young footballers who once a year dream of making it onto the Mighty Bay team only to see their dream crushed as swiftly as it has blossomed.

I bet Mr and Mrs must have been feeling confident that one of Arnold, Anthony and Arthur Trialist would make the grade as two were in the starting line up while the younger sibling, Arthur was amongst the subs.
Walking around to the Allotment End, there was sadness and delight at seeing the newly named 'Tommy's Tea Hut'. Mrs Twitter had taken over the running but she scurried away, refusing to be in the photo, so it was left to James, who had been passing, to steal the glory. Tommy himself has not been well recently and though thankfully he is out of hospital, it is unlikely we will see behind the counter to serve us our cola bottles and hot chocolate or on a Saturday morning marshalling at the Bay's parkrun. I'm sure everyone would wish him a full recovery. This sign, IMHO, is a fitting recognition of the years of voluntary work he has put in. A heartfelt congratulations to Mrs Twitter who has certainly worked her socks off, both pairs, since taking over. Great job Julie!

The Boy Charlie's final game
before returning to Mexico.
Adios amigo.
Neil's first because of work.

Having been up to Newcastle to witness the cacophony of colour that is the Newcastle Pride festival, I was running late again. Mrs Bay-Blogger (hyphenated cos we is posh) dropped me at Hillheads on her way home; just in time to hear that i had once again missed the first goal of the game. This time it was Callum Patton doing the honours. The crowd was small, as was to be expected for a pre-season against a team that had been awarded the title "Worst team in England"

Manager Gary Brown said: "It gets the worst weather you can imagine. And it means we look forward to our away games because we just cannot get consistency. The people around us are fantastic, but the climate doesn’t help us. We have lots of games called off, a lot of pitch inspections. We often go weeks without a game because our pitch is so soggy. Local firm MANFLU has since stepped in to help the side with a sponsorship deal offering players supplies of their energy products.        

Source: Cavendish Press

The way that the Bay were setting about the task at hand against a team at a comparable level to themselves showed either that the visitors hadn't learnt from previous mistakes or the lads were brilliant. The lads were indeed playing some great stuff and fully deserved to be ahead. Just after half time, Mr and Mrs Trialist must have been beaming proudly as their little Arnold(or was it Anthony?) saw his cracking header superbly saved. Little Patton however was on hand to score. How proud the Patton family then must have been with their investment.

The scoring was rounded off by Thibault and the scoreline in no way flattered the Bay. They had played the best football, controlling the game in every area. Maybe A Trialist could return!

Next stop: Newcastle United U23s.

15th July 2017 Seaton Delaval (a)

The beautifully designed team-sheet from the club's Twitter, another labour of love from Mr Twitter.

For most of my life, a visit to Seaton Delaval meant one of two things: ice cream or ghost stories. The former usually on a dismally damp bank holiday and the steamed up windows of my dad's Ford Escort. The four of us would sit licking silently our one  scoop of vanilla and flake (cause we woz posh) as the rain bounced off the car roof: a familiar scene for many Tyneside families in the 1970s and 80s....

Good to be back and entertaining the Mexican ambassador!

Today, however, there was no ice cream on offer, cause we were classically late again. Having had to drop his son at a ju-jitsu competition in Killingworth first, the Boy Mark finally appeared to pick myself and my returning mate, Charlie. The mercurial Charlie was my original partner in crime and my best man in the heady days of 1996. However the mercurial one now lives in Mexico where his access to Bay games is limited: live streaming possibility there maybe?
As usual we were failed by technology: think we'll try programming in the right postcode in next time, and arrived at the ground to hear the roar / polite, interested applause of the Bay hordes: Kyle Patton had scored. Start as we meant to carry on? We'll see. The overgrown terraces hinted at a much more illustrious past but there were dangers lurking for those fools who had come out in shorts. Sure enough I was whipped by nettles. Thankfully I carried on with extreme bravery and no wincing or mincing. My fortitude was soon rewarded.
Just ten minutes later, with our spot behind the goal achieved and flag erected, the boy-wizard Potter had doubled the lead. In fact I don't know if I can carry calling him that because he seems to have doubled in size and is now more of a skillful power ram. This time he was letting fly with a delightfully curling floater. 2-0 and 11 minutes in.
The week earlier, our good friends in red had played here and won 2-1. We had already matched their total and were looking for more. Bragging rights to the Bay?
Soon after Potter's magi-ball from a corner was turned into Super K's path and he made no mistake: screaming home from two yards out!

With half time approaching Thibault added some of his own Gallic charm: back-flicking a Kyle Patton cross. The younger Patton bro was certainly enjoying himself in the eldest's absence. The second half was a much more sedate affair but new boy Cornish certainly took the game to the Delavals with some ghosting runs that showed great spirit and poise!

The ref provided the entertainment in the second as he found himself without one or both linesmen. Delaval's off-side trap kept being exposed by the Bay frontline which made them more and more frustrated. Finally the ref had had enough of their complaints so he just told them to "shut up cause I'm doing my best!" When they carried on arguing he pointed to the lack of a linesman and kept repeating "Shut up! Shut up!" This was all while he carried on refereeing the ongoing game. Who says men can't multi-task? "Shut up!"
At the final whistle, the Bay had triumphed 4-0 and we could now begin the argument with Charlie - Vase winning teams v current team....could we compare? In terms of team spirit me and the Boy Mark agreed that there were few better teams. This was still a young team with much to prove but you could only beat the teams before you and today they had done that conclusively.

Saturday 8th April 2017 - West Auckland (h)

Sad news emerged when it was announced that West Allotment Celtic, second bottom of Northern League Division 1, would most likely have to resign from the league and after 90 years as a football club faced oblivion. The reason for this was a massive 67% increase in rent being asked for by the Blue Flames Sporting Club that owned the ground. Rumours began to surface that a certain big neighbour was eyeing up the pitch for themselves and had offered Blue Flames lots of dosh in return. Only time will tell what happens but whatever transpires, a club with great tradition was facing extinction. A plea for someone to help the stricken club was launched on the club website: http://westallotmentcelticfc.com/resignation but there aren't many sugar daddies or mammies out there in non-league land so the future looks bleak. As a former fan of all the incarnations of Newcastle's ice hockey teams, I know how the fans and club are feeling and wish them all the best in these troubling times to come.

The weather people had promised that this weekend would be a scorcher and they weren't wrong! The temperature in Hillheads was a balmy 12 degrees Celsius with a cooling sea breeze to make all the people who had ventured out in shorts and flipflops wish they hadn't.
As it was the last home game of the season, a trip to ask for a season ticket renewal form meant a trip to the portacabin that is the nerve centre of the club. Sure enough the Boy Mark and I were handed a shiny form on posh, thick paper with the words 16-17  crossed out and 17-18 biroed on top. Quality!
However, we were slow off the mark compared to that speedking of Tyneside's pavement: Baldie Bruce who had already handed over his well-earned cash! First season ticket renewal? Must be in with a shout.

Team sheet courtesy of Mr Twitter. Thanks

In goal today, was 17 year-old reserve team keeper Daniel Lister. Watching him warm-up with the Flynnster, he looked pretty confident so our hopes of a victory against fifth from bottom West grew.
In fact in the first half, they may as well have withdrawn both goalies and it would have made no difference at all as neither team seemed to know what to do with the goal nets. On the terraces and on the field nothing important was happening. We chatted while the ball pinged backwards and forwards in midfield.

Go Tommy......

The only highlights of the first half were the two West fans standing near us who constantly ordered the team about...especially Tom Marron, who was told to: "Stay Tommy" "Close Tommy" "Clear Tommy" "Open up Tommy". I doubted that Tommy wanted to reveal his inner thoughts and fears to any of us but he didn't need to worry about going off for some therapy as there was absolutely no chance of Whitley threatening the goal. They were huffing and puffing but the goal remained in tact.
The other highlight was the amazing fact on the Northern League website that said the Bay had only dropped two points all season against teams starting with a W. It was about as insightful and fascinating as Barry's prediction of the North Shields v South Shields match: "Shields will win that one". Genius on both counts....although he hadn't considered the draw...

Bob went wild.
Moira smiled: same thing really!

Bish! Bash! Bosh!

The second half exploded into life! In the space of 11 minutes, Kyle Patton found himself in the right place three times to notch up his first first team hat-trick. Bish bash bosh. Not only that but Bob got excited!
The first was a superb solo effort and finish. The second was from a bit of Kempster magic while the third was a rebound. He has been nothing short of a revelation since becoming a first team regular so the future looks bright for the Bay.

 Kyle made way for Peter Ravenclaw who wasted no time in scoring his first Bay goal after more great work from the Kempstervator. The Bay had made scoring seem so easy and effortless in the second half, no wonder one of the visiting defenders described his own team as 's$%"e' when the fourth goal nestled in the net.
The lads had turned on the charm in the second half. The real problem will be keeping this talented team together. Marc and Anthony have certainly worked wonders... now they need to work more wonders to keep the team and themselves together...at the Bay!