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Against Blyth Spartans

Score: Whitley Bay 2 - Blyth Spartans 0
(Darmody 2)
 
Whitley were drawn against North East Premier Division side Blyth Spartans in this Quarter Final of the Northumberland FA Womens Cup. Both sides had full squads available and it was 2 strong teams that took the field at Hillheads in glorious sunshine. The early exchanges were even but Whitley were looking to play the ball behind Blyth at every opportunity, using the pace of Rachel Kay and Laura Darmody to trouble the deep Blyth defence. From such a ball Whitley made the breakthrough on the 12th minute as Nikki Smith laid the ball down the channel for Laura Darmody to outsprint the defender and slot the ball into the far corner. This tactic was paying dividends but the final ball was not reaching a Whitley shirt. Just as Blyth were settling to the task, a simple free kick was played over the defence by Siobhan Davies and Laura Darmody was first to react as she calmly sidefooted the ball into the corner of the net to put Whitley 2 ahead. Whitley continued to press forward, with Blyth making rare attacks and the Whitley keeper was never troubled. The score remained 2-0 at half time. After the break, Blyth made some substitutions and tactical changes and started to defend well, restricting Whitley to most of the possession in midfield, but unable to penetrate the back four. Blyth also started to take the game to Whitley as they tried to get a foothold in the game. However, Whitley's defence held strong and Blyth were resorting to shooting from distance, which was dealt with comfortably by the Bay keeper. Whitley had chances at free kicks and corners but the Blyth keeper did not have a meaningful save to make, as defences were on top. Whitley made changes to kill the game and both sides were unable to add to the score, leaving Whitley's first half goals as the difference between the sides. Manager Colin Phillips was pleased to be in the semi final draw 'It took Blyth a while to get into the game, but they proved to be tough opponents, especially in the second half when we were unable to break them down'