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