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!

Tuesday 4th April 2017 - Jarrow Roofing

Courtesy of Mr Twitter

The second bus came along as expected with the visit of Jarrow for a rare Tuesday night game. There was no Boy Mark or Woodie as they were taking part in the final race of the NS Poly's Grand Prix (I can't bear to type the name in this blog) so at the start of the game it was just me and Mr Twitter standing behind the goal at the Car Park End. Bob eventually joined us to make quite a crowd - after all 3 is a crowd!
There was relief for Charmey when he passed a late fitness test on his nose: damaged in the service to his country. His coming together with the Allotment End's pitch-side barrier when kissing my Allez-le-Bay Tricolore had not kept him out of the big game.
We were soon rewarded for our journey out as Liam Brookes was playing like a possessed man who could play really good football. The Brookster was leaping, heading, kicking and all that sort of stuff at the right time and....his passes, headers and shots all went where he wanted them, mostly. Seven minutes in, the man-mountain or tree, since he's quite tall and thin, planted a shot past Jarrow's Top Brass in the visiting goal.

Brooksy's brassed somebody off! !-0 the Bay

The tall wonder then proceeded to terrorise the visitors with shots, headers and controls that had them tangled all ends up. However the score remained 1-0. The lads were to rue these missed chances as the unthinkable happened...Chow managed to score from outside of the six-yard box! Unfortunately the Chowster was playing for Jarrow, in a deeper midfield / defence / goalkeeper position, and it was a screaming 35-yarder that left Flynn with no chance. This must have annoyed former Bay electrical wizard, Lee Kerr, who had also signed for the Roofers. The Bald Eagle (...or is he more a Bald Badger?) unleashed another cracking strike from distance (though not quite from 35 yards out) which left an out-of-position Flynn with no chance. After their great start the Bay were behind!
The whole of the first half had been accompanied by the sound of the Roofing's management duo who, like a combination of Mourinho and Klopp, constantly bawled their instructions to their team. Despite the fact that their team were 2-1 up and playing well, the pair didn't let up. At half time, the visitors headed for their dressing room fully deserving their lead.
In the second half, this was all turned on its head as the Bay, once again started strongly. Brooksy had been replaced by Robbo and now it was the Bay's powerhouse who was unsettling the visiting defence. Soon after the restart, the Bay were level. Super-Charmey, with a nose for goal, unleashed a fearsome half-volley that cracked off the post and with the Brass Monkey frozen to the spot, Kyle slotted home. The game then swang from end to end with Robbo shooting wide, Jarrow's Dennis Knight, appearing not to be wearing shining armour, hit Flynn's post. In the end, a 2-2 draw was a fair result, but the excitement in the second half had most certainly been worth it. Even Bob enjoyed it. High praise indeed!

Saturday 2nd April 2017 - Consett (h)

Like buses, we had waited for a home match for over a month and a half and then three arrived all at once. So it was that the Bay's final three home games of the season arrived in the merry month of April!
My morning had already been spent running the Cragside 10km where I was delighted with a 48:08 finish but bemused to find myself the first placed female in the 45+ age group and that I had changed my name to Liesa. Who knew? Certainly not me!
Arriving at the ground, we could hear a bit of a commotion coming from the 'holidaying' Consett fans who had made an effort for their trip away to the seaside. Unfortunately, the weather hadn't rewarded them much for their efforts. Despite the beach theme, they had sensibly decided against the speedos and towels...for which all were extremely grateful! Encouraged by a continental-style leader with a megaphone they managed to drone out the usual medley of 60s and 70s hits on the PA.
They started off singing a tribute to their own sugary treat, forward Michael Sweet, with a version of  'sensational' 80s pop 'song' : Black Lace's Agadoo that featured the lyrics:
"Michael Sweet, Sweet, Sweet, Will you score a goal for me? (repeat) With the left, with the right, ...." and then I lost track of the lyrics as I carried on my voyage to the furthest end of the ground. Full marks for that though chaps!
 They were almost celebrating soon after the kick-off when their favourite Bonbon was denied by our own children's favourite, the Flynnster, who managed to get a foot on the tooth-decaying-one's shot.
A bad challenge on our own Comet, Haley, saw him being replaced by the young David Hall and the Bay began to settle down. On 32 minutes, the moment all Francophiles had been waiting for arrived! Actually it was probably just me.

Photo courtesy of Julian  Tyley
http://whitleybayfc.com/
To me.....to you!

Thibault's left foot struck the ball sweetly and it fizzed into the bottom corner of the net! His first reaction was to run towards the Bay tricoleur I'd put up only 33 minutes earlier and after high-fiving me (still haven't washed) he then kissed his nation's flag...which also won't be washed!
TBH: no change really on either front, despite my wife's frequent protestations.
The rest of my good friends pretended not to have noticed as I turned around and had also taken a couple of steps away from me as they sang "Football fwend". Jealousy should never be encouraged I was told, so I didn't rise to their envious taunts.
The choir behind Flynny's goal had grown strangely quiet after that goal and their keepie-uppies with one of their many beach balls was ended when it nestled in one of the bare trees at the the Car Park End.
Just before half time, it was suspension-bound Flynn who shone as he leaped about like a frisky gazelle to keep out Consett with two saves in quick succession.
At half time, the remaining beach balls were shepherded to the Allotment end by the younger members of the touring crowd, presumably while the older ones lubricated their vocal chords.
There was more disaster for the beach ball gang as the second half began when another of their inflatable number ended up over the fence. Matters got even worse for them as the ball looped into their penalty area. Before neither keeper nor defender could react, Kyle Patton had steamed in to score. 2-0 to the mighty Bay.
On the plus side for the holidaying fans, their beach ball was returned. In fact things got a lot better for them as their favourite Candyman managed to beat Flynny's grasping fingers to pull the Steelmen within one goal.
Soon after the Bay had to steel themselves for the fightback. Supermac had to clear off the line when the ball eluded the flailing Flynn's grasp then our super keeper himself had to steal the ball from Sweet's greedy feet.
The home fans in the 313 crowd were more than grateful to hear the ref's final whistle as the visiting fans picked up their beach equipment to head back from Hillheads to their own hilltop forts. The Bay were 7th in the Northern League after an extremely physical encounter that Baldie Bruce was totally the fault of "the worst refereeing display in history". Certainly not an exaggeration there, Brucie!

Shanksy has left!

The man himself in a
 familiar, thoughtful pose!

It was sadly announced over the weekend that the Shankster had parted ways with the club. I would just like to wish him luck with whatever he does in the future and thank him for so many great memories. His goals haul over the last couple of seasons for the Bay has been nothing short of miraculous and I hope he remembers if he comes back to Hillheads how popular he was here and not to do the old 'former player' routine and knock in a hat-trick...
Thanks for the memories Shanks and look after that young family of yours too!

Saturday 25th March 2017 - Dunston (a)

Glorious!

 It was the last day of winter and the sun had finally appeared in all its warming glory!
Personally, the previous week had been a nightmare with the passing away of one of our pet chickens: and no Pecky was not eaten!
The morning had been spent travelling too and from Durham Hens to purchase two replacements to avoid our remaining chicken, Clucky getting lonely. Flappy and Eggy Pop moved in.
Then came the bad news that The Boy Mark was still waiting for his new dishwasher to arrive and so couldn't drive me to the game! Thankfully, Claire (Little Claire's Mum) came to the rescue and so, along with Mr Twitter, we headed off into the bright afternoon sun.
Memories of the Bay's smash and grab FA Vase Quarter-final victory in 2011 always spring up when I pass the Metrocentre and today was no exception.
Arriving at the ground it was good to meet up with running buddy from NS Poly Running Club (can't type the NS words): the follicly-challenged Bruce. After my last post in February he challenged me to up the interest level as he was a bit bored with the last post. In an effort to appease the fleet-footed one, I thought I'd try the old dinosaur-on-the-pitch routine.

However, maybe all I needed to do was take a picture of Dunston's number 1 fan: Derek the Dunston Dog! If only the coaches listened to his barks more often! (I made up his name BTW: call it poetic licence!)

As it was I needn't have relied on doctored photos and clever animals: the match itself would provide all of the drama you could have asked for.
Early on, Peter the Elf from Rivendale (completely lost on Mr Twitter he's never seen Lord of the Rings or the Hobbit!) was given a start after impressing for the reserves the previous week and he helped set up Robbo, who fired high and wide. The Robster came again and this time his drive was well saved.

shortly after, it was Supermac's turn and his blistering drive was turned over by the bouncing Jack Norton in the Dunston goal. In fact not only was Mr Norton excelling in goal, he was also amusing us with his guidance for the home defence. Shouts of :
"That's the line I want!" and "Get him!", "Get out!", Get up!" could well have been used in the mid 1990s by the likes of the Shamen but unfortunately his defence didn't appreciate that fact as they ignored his stream of shouts.
Next it was Thibault whose one on one effort was saved but the rebound landed perfectly for Kempo, who slid the ball through a crowd into the yawning net. 1-0 to the Mighty Bay.

Dunston bounced back and when the Flying Flynn took out a Dunston forward, he was duly shown the red card. Where was Chow when you needed him? There was no reserve team keeper on the bench so up drove General Patton in his Sherman tank.
Yes it was all up to Supercal to save the day! The visiting fans were not sure about this one.
At half time Supercal was run through his paces by the subs and in between them completely missing the target and smashing the ball quite easily past the hapless Cal, our concerns about Supercal's prowess in goal grew.

Supercal to the rescue?

"In Cal we trust!" turned out to be the motto for the second half and the maestro did not disappoint. The PATtern of play became clear straight away as the PATrons of the UTS Stadium screamed their dissatisfaction with their team. Not wanting to PATronise him, Cal did a sound job. He certainly wasn't a PATsy or a PAT-er-cake, as he raced out to deal with every ball that came his way: with varying degrees of success. He may not have had the PATter of Flynn but he kept the away sheet clean. Like PAT Butcher after her fags, Supercal leapt for every ball with an almost PATernal care for his goal. Not even PATrick Stewart could have driven the USS Enterprise past him. He was inspirational, even though he did look a bit of a PATootie in his Pink shirt. (sorry that one was Mr Twitter's).
Despite Professor Wilko having to clear one off the line, after Supercal's initial save, and Dunston's Liam Thear rattled the crossbar, Supercal was solid.

Sing in the Cheap Seats!

But it wasn't all Dunston. First Kempo's shot was saved then Liam Brooks wriggled into the box like a snake but his effort lacked any pace. Supercal PATted one out of the air with both hands as Dunston grew frustrated. Brooksie could have sealed the win if he had rolled it to Teeny PATton but the chance went begging and out for a throw-in.

Finally, after over 5 minutes of injury time according to Mr Twitter, the full time whistle was blown and the Bay could celebrate the 1-0 win. Supercal certainly deserved the PATs on the back he received! The Bay march on...to a home game no less! When was the last time that happened?