1 | Nathan Pond defends an early corner.
2 | Jamie Milligan bends in the goal.
3 | Kieran Walmsley tries his luck....
4 | This week's caption competition!

Apart from Whitby Town and Fleetwood Town taking on each other at the Turnbull ground in North Yorkshire the weather also decided to make it’s mark on the match.  The wind played a significant role throughout the first half, with both teams struggling in the blustery conditions. Cold, driving rain joined the second half. Fleetwood went into the UniBond Premier Division fixture on the back of a 1-0 away win to Marine during mid-week, but were concerned Nathan Pond would not be fit to start the game.  Pond passed a late fitness test, though, before Saturday’s kick-off.   Whitby’s mid-week fixture saw them take a valuable point when they travelled to fellow strugglers Leek Town. In the corresponding fixture last month at Highbury, Fleetwood took all three points from Whitby thanks to a Kieran Walmsley header. 

Fleetwood started with the strong wind in their faces.  Whitby failed to make the most of the conditions throughout the first half. Town defended well throughout the 90 minutes. Skipper Phil Robinson imposed himself in the box against Whitby’s Anthony Ormerod within the opening ten minutes.  Danny Hurst thwarted the home sides best chance of the half. A long throw was headed into the box by Whitby captain Matty Appleby but Hurst collected the resulting effort. Jez Fitzgerald also stamped his early authority with a clearance from an Ashley Lythe goal bound header. A good Fleetwood build-up on 15 minutes saw Kieran Walmsley’s curling shot go wide of home keeper David Campbell’s left post. Back at the other end, Hurst needed to be alert on the mid-way mark when a Whitby free-kick just inside the Fleetwood half combined with the wind.  Hurst needed to touch the ball over his bar for a corner and he comfortably collected the play from the corner. The talking point of the game came during added time at the end of the half.  A handball by Ashley Lythe was strongly claimed by Town players to have taken place inside the box.  Instead of a penalty Fleetwood were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the area by referee Neil Sharpe. Jamie Milligan stepped up and his delightful free-kick sailed over the five-man wall and ended to the left of the rooted Campbell in the home goal. 

The start of the second period was the cue for driving rain.  Fleetwood tried to make to most of having the wind behind them, but the swirling gusts played havoc on both sides. Town continued to press forward to add to their single tally.   A clever flick from Nathan Pond on 65 minutes set up Milligan and Andy Moran, but the move  broke down.  Shaun Gray, steady in defence, then put through a good ball to Andy Bell. Bell’s shot went  wide of the left post.  Milligan, Shaun Beeley and Ashley Dunn combined mid-way through the second half with the ball ending in the side netting after a goal-mouth scramble.   An offside flag denied Bell towards the end of the match after Dunne had threaded a ball to him.  The last action before the final whistle was a Fleetwood free kick after Andy Burton had pulled back Milligan. The home keeper saved Walmsley’s free-kick.  The afternoon was summed up a few minutes before the final free-kick when Shaun Beeley and Whitby’s Andy Burton jumped together for a cleared ball.  The wind carried their ball six yards behind the pair, leaving them challenging for fresh air!

Three points away from home in difficult conditions strengthens Fleetwood Town's second place in the league.  The crowd of 261 included  Steve Foster, back from his one month loan at Curzon Ashton.  Shaun Gray was deservedly named the match sponsors 'Visiting Man of the Match'.

The Blues dropped back into the bottom three after losing this scrappy battle of the coastal towns at the Turnbull Ground on Saturday. Whitby's joint managers Phil Brumwell and Graham Clark made three changes from the side that drew 3-3 at Leek Town in midweek. Dan Newby and Alex Janes returned from hamstring and ankle problems respectively, with Anthony Ormerod available again after missing out with work commitments. Richard Forster missed out after picking up a knock, Karl Charlton served a one-match suspension, and Tom Raw, just back after a broken leg, was rested on the bench.
 
The hosts started brightly and came close on six minutes when Anthony Ormerod's flick on was uncharacteristically miscontrolled on his chest by the Seasiders' top scorer Danny Brunskill. A minute later, at the other end, the visitors were up in arms when Jamie Milligan went down under Steve Tobin's slide challenge inside the Blues' box, but the Whitby defender was adjudged to have taken the ball by referee Mr Sharp. On a breezy day, a freak gust of wind in the 12th minutes caught an attempted cross. Fleetwood goalkeeper Danny Hurst allowed the ball to bounce in front of him but was then forced to tip over at full stretch. The Lancashire side began to take charge late in the half, and almost led five minutes before half-time when Andy Bell's shot from a seemingly impossible angle squirmed under home goalkeeper Dave Campbell's body and straight along the Whitby goal line. Whitby were forced to cut short Raw's rest a minute from the interval when Janes suffered a reoccurence of his injury and trotted off- Brumwell himself dropped into defence with Ormerod going into midfield so Raw could join strike partner Brunskill. However, the breakthrough came for the visitors at the other end. Deep in stoppage time, Tobin appeared to handle two or three yards inside his own penalty area, but Mr Sharp left the Fleetwood forwards incredulous by only giving a free-kick right on the edge of the box. Though, they will surely think justice was done as Milligan strode up and fired the resulting set piece over the wall and into the roof of the net.
 
The second half was a turgid affair with heavy, driving rain accompanying the strong gales. With 16 minutes remaining, young winger Sam Garvie, signed from New Marske a week ago, got his first run out in the royal blue when replacing the out-of-sorts Newby on the left. But it was Fleetwood who had a goal ruled out for offside, before Whitby had their best chance of an equaliser two minutes from time. Local lad Ashley Lyth rising highest at the near post, only to head Matty Appleby's inswinging corner over the crossbar, two minutes from time. Campbell then pulled off a flying save to keep out a curling 20-yard Kieran Walmsley free-kick.
 
The conditions hardly lent themselves to flowing football but Whitby worked hard in the third of their 13 cup finals.

WITTON ALBION continue to lead the Premier Division after maintaining their unbeaten home record with a win over next to bottom LEEK TOWN but FLEETWOOD TOWN closed the gap to eight points with two games in hand thanks to two 1-0 away wins in the week. BUXTON lost ground in midweek when surprisingly went down at home to NORTH FERRIBY UNITED before winning at fellow play-off hopefuls GUISELEY on Saturday. It was a bad week for the Nethermoor club who had been held at home on Tuesday by FRICKLEY ATHLETIC who were only denied all three points by a stoppage time equaliser. Down in the drop zone all three bottom clubs lost but crucially in midweek WHITBY TOWN drew at LEEK TOWN to keep themselves four points clear of the last two places and only three points adrift of PRESCOT CABLES and NORTH FERRIBY UNITED in 13th and 14th positions respectively.
 

FleetwoodTownFC.com || Match Archives 07/08