27th October 2018 - Ashington (h)

Jack Foalle has gone and post-Jaxit Whitley was not looking good. There may well have been an exciting game at Heaton Stannington but the hard fact of it all was that the lads had lost 4-3 to the Division 2 side and that their goals had been scored by ex-Whitley players. Can we have Andy Robertson back now please?
My morning had started with a frozen, wet, sleety, thunder-and-lightningy and windy parkrun. The prospect of venturing out again to watch the Bay was not tempting. However, on the fast-walk up Hillheads Road, I was delighted that my early morning activity paid off. The two more mature men in flat caps were easily overtaken by Marden Bridge School, as were the woman with her young son by the bus stop. Next up there was the man with his headphones in, which was more of a challenge but sure enough he was left trailing in my wake. The two old fellas in Bay bobble hats proved to have had too much of a head start to catch but as I entered the ground my extra layers made me feel extremely warm.

Courtesy of @WhitleyBayFC Twitter

Meeting up with Gibbo and little Gibbo, Heather and the Kinnon it was clear that the youngest was taking results badly and had come up with her own way of watching the Bay...

Nevertheless she was here and so were a a very respectable 341. Also in the crowd were a group of Ashington fans who had walked to the game in aid of Prostate cancer. David Hall came across to say hello, jangling a bucket so we added to his growing collection. With that, he was gone.
The strong wind whipped around Hillheads and made good football difficult so it was no surprise that there were few chances and little to excite. The most interesting part of the first 20 minutes was Little Gibbo's search for the nearest bin: Bingate. There were just too many choices. There was relief all round when she decided upon the final destination for her twix wrapper. This relief was doubled (if that was possible) when Ashington hit the post. An Ashington striker bore down on goal then perfectly slotted past Brannen only to see his shot bounce back off the near post to be cleared by a grateful Bay defender.
Soon after, the Bay were ahead: Kieran Brannen coming up with a super strike that looked out of place in the match.

Into the second half, it was the Colliers who struck the equaliser and there was a sense of deja vu as the Bay were rocked by the goal. Colliers keeper, Conor Grant began to feel unused so decided upon a spot of yoga, lying down to stretch as the match continued at the other end of the pitch.

Ollie Martin came on for Andrei and both he and Kieran looked dangerous on the break.
The Ashington walkers were enjoying themselves and gave us a rendition of their favourite ode to their home town:

"Oh Ashington,

Is Wonderful,

Oh Ashington is wonderful,

It's full of of clubs, bookies and chip shops..."

There was a moment of hope when Taggart challenged for a through ball but his chance rolled wide.

Controversy followed as Ollie Martin looked to have superbly volleyed home a great move but Stephen Ramsay was ruled to be offside. I couldn't see it myself and neither could Gibbo and co!

Shock! No way offside!

In the closing moments, a rash tackle from the Bay's Luke Taylor began a bout of handbags and the young defender was given his marching orders. The final whistle blew and the Bay had extended their unbeaten run to two. 1-1 the final score.

Next week, we will be seeing our friends from NE29 on two occasions, fingers crossed for a place in the next round of the League Cup and three points for the Bay!