19th January 2019 - Consett (a)

The sad news of Robbie Livermore's death had a profound effect on many of the Whitley fans, staff and players. Today would be a poignant experience for many, who all held so many happy memories of the popular ex-Whitley player. Was this the best day for the league leaders to face an emotional Bay team?
The weekend had started with concerns that the first snow of the year might call the match off. However, as usual, the Chronicle's implication that we should all be stockpiling food in the face of this horrendous light dusting of snow proved unfounded. There was no sign of any white stuff in the Durham Hills as The Boy Mark and I introduced Wednesday Chris to the wonders of Northern League away days. the set-up at Consett is a good place to start. Although we didn't take advantage of the bar, there was a good selection of snacks on offer from the hatch including the tempting sausage and bacon sandwich. Chris convinced us to share in his abstinence after an unsettling encounter with a Blyth Spartans Cheeseburger. We shared his pain:

The after-effects of a Spartansburger?

The emergence of Consett's Big Red Tunnel gave me the perfect opportunity to test out my new gimbal. I'm not sure how necessary it is that we don't see the players coming onto the pitch but maybe it added to the mystery that is Consett generally!

Courtesy of Whitley Bay Twitter

A minute's silence was perfectly observed. This was my second moment of remembrance for Robbie after Whitley parkrun's tribute to the former Wallsend Harrier runner. A well-loved man.

 When the game settled down, it seemed Craig McFarlane was determined to win the game single-handedly for the former Bay legend. His runs down the wing were causing no end of problems and it was great to see him firing on all cylinders in a way we haven't see too often since his return. It is such a shame it was in such sad circumstances.
It was Maca's jinky run that gave the Bay a surprise lead. His shot simply rolling along the 4G pitch; almost curling around the struggling Kyle Hayes.

The defensive dynamo was back at it when he forced Hayes to dive full length to beat away another cracking effort. Consett had no answer to the veteran left back.

As the game rolled on so did the fog and the cold. As Baldy Bruce put it:
"Don't complain about it being cold at a Whitley parkrun until you've experienced Consett's tropical temperatures." It was guesswork what was happening at the other end of the pitch and when we heard the home fans cheering we knew it was 1-1. But the Bay did not give up.

They battled in defence and tore into the home defence with every breakaway. This was a transformed team. Unlucky to lose at West Auckland the previous week, there is at last hope that the consistency the team had been searching for might have been found: just behind Tommy's teahut in a box marked: "consistency".

Consett made it 2-1 but we had no way of knowing of what had happened.
We even had difficulty seeing the near goal, having stood at the side of the pitch in the hope of  seeing more of the game. When a corner was swung into the mists, either the bar or the keeper kept out a header but Olly Martin was on hand to score the rebound. I should have stuck to my usual spot behind the goal!

However, the Consett confusion obscured our view once again as the home side took the lead three minutes later. The Consett pooch had lost all interest and preferred to hastle its owner to throw its tennis ball to chase: she wasn't obliging, though.

With two minutes left, a Ravenhill screamer surprised and delighted us all. 3-3. The linesman on our side was perfectly placed to spot the ball hadn't completely crossed the line as Luke Salmon swam down the wing and eventually the ball found itself to The Raven to launch home.

A suspected injury time winner for Consett dampened our mood but we were delighted when the eagle-eyed Boy Mark spotted they hadn't restarted the game with a centre. We were similarly delighted to return to the warmth of the car and disappear into the fog. 45 minutes later we were home: sort of.
3-3 a great return from the home of the leaders.