F.A.Cup Match

Playing Away

Against Darlington R.A.

Score: Darlington R.A. 3 - Whitley Bay 3 (after extra time)
Darlington R.A. 6 - Whitley Bay 7 (after penalties)
(Darmody, Kay, Suddes)
 
Whitley Bay travelled down the A1 to renew old rivalries with Darlington RA in an FA Cup match that promised to be a close run affair. Darlington came out of the blocks very quickly and in the first few minutes Whitley were left chasing shadows. On 8 minutes, a simple ball cut through the ragged Whitley defence leaving the Darlington forward an easy task to knock the ball past the advancing keeper for 1-0. Whitley regrouped and soon were making attacks themselves and regained their composure in defence. On 18 minutes they won a corner that was taken by Helen Graham and expertly nodded home by Laura Darmody. The game was back to square one, with both teams attacking and defending in equal measures, with RA perhaps having the better of possession. Very few clear cut chances were being created and it remained 1-1 at half time. After the break there was more of the same with neither side gaining the advantage but both playing some superb football and defending at the highest standards. On the hour mark, RA had a shot that was incredibly touched onto the bar by Laura Wilson, the young Whitley keeper but she watched helplessly as the rebound fell to a RA player who smashed the ball home. Whitley knew they had to score and sacrificed a defensive player for Jo Suddes a pacey winger and she immediately caused havoc in the RA defence and almost snatched an equaliser with her first meaningful passage of play. However, Bay were not to be denied when on the 78 minute Kerry Davison released Rachel Kay who sped down the left wing past her marker and headed for goal. She struck a great shot across the keeper for a deserved equaliser. The score remained level on 90 minutes and the game went into extra time. Whitley looked the stronger of the 2 sides yet RA dug in and gave as good as they got. Just into the second period of extra time, Kerry Davison played a ball for Jo Suddes to chase which she did to great effect and having out-sprinted 2 RA defenders she cut in and hit an unstoppable shot that crashed into the back of the net off the underside of the bar. 3-2 to Whitley. The game was still swinging from end to end, with tremendous effort being shown by both sides. With seconds left on the clock, RA equalised in controversial fashion. The Whitley keeper was felled in the box by a RA forward and she lay injured, the referee gave no foul and allowed play to continue. After 2 attempts to clear, the ball fell to RA and was poked in. As the ref signaled for a goal, both Managers rushed to the aid of the stricken keeper and she eventually got to her feet and the whistle was blown for penalties. The standard of the penalties was excellent and the shoot out went to sudden death with Whitley eventually winning 7-6. Bay Manager Colin Phillips was delighted to be through to the next round 'This was a fantastic game played by 2 excellent sides and a draw after 120 minutes of pulsating football was fair. Unfortunately the game had to be decided on penalties which is not a pleasant way to be knocked out of such a prestigious competition. Credit to both teams for such a great game and best of luck to RA for the rest of the season'