Nantwich Town 2
Whitby Town 1
League (NPL Premier Division)

Match Report

Nantwich Town 2-1 Whitby Town
Evo-Stik NPL Premier Division – Tuesday 9th April
Nantwich proved their wins against Witton Albion and Eastwood Town were no flukes as they passed Whitby Town off the Weaver Stadium pitch in a 2-1 win which saw the away manager and captain sent off in second-half stoppage time.
Despite the Dabbers dominating possession and chances in the first half the visitors took the lead through a Graeme Armstrong penalty after Nantwich’s Ryan Dicker's challenge on Nathan Mulligan was deemed a foul by busy referee, Barry Cropp.
Nantwich’s youngsters came out for the second half with the same determination they left and it was only four minutes until Harry Clayton took full advantage of an Alex White miss-kick to fire powerfully over Whitby goalkeeper, David Campbell, in to the top corner (’49).
The Dabber’s tails were up after their deserved equaliser and it was not long before Oliver Devenney calmly stroked home a second after Josh Lane’s direct run and shot from a narrow angle forced Campbell to parry right in to the danger zone in the 54th minute.
The Seasiders started the game with confidence pressing high in a 4-2-4 formation, however the Dabbers’ back four kept their composure and shape, forcing the away team in to long shots from Armstrong on two and 13 minutes.
Recent Nantwich signing from Maine Road FC, Tom Bentham, looked more strong and confident than ever as he regularly held off Whitby’s Kevin Burgess and White, having a shot blocked on 11 minutes.
The home side continued to pass the ball well and Harry Clayton saw a powerful long effort whistle wide of Campbell’s post before Armstrong drilled his penalty down the middle of Jon Brain’s goal.
The Dabbers were clearly angered they had gone behind despite playing well and so close to half time and looked anxious to draw level.
They did not have to wait long as just after the break Clayton profited from a moment of madness in the Whitby defence as White failed to make proper contact with an attempted clearance and the ball fell kindly for the Crewe Alex loanee to thump home.
Clayton looked delighted and everyone except Brain went to congratulate him showing the great team spirit among the young teammates.
At times Whitby could not keep up with the pace of the Dabbers’ quick passing and fittingly one of the home side’s fastest players, Josh Lane, made a characteristic lung-bursting run down the right which culminated in a shot which was too hot for goalie Campbell to handle and Devenney was there to finish expertly and complete Nantwich’s comeback.
Whitby did create several chances at 2-1 but Nantwich always looked like scoring a third with Joe Guest forcing a save after a skilful Clayton run and pass.
With only a couple of minutes of stoppage time remaining there was still time for Whitby captain Kevin Burgess to see red for a bad tackle and their manager, Darren Williams, suffered the same fate when he swore at the referee.
Nantwich maintained their lead though without undue pressure and gained a rewarding win.
Nantwich: Brain; Cole, Bailey, Raglan (c), Dicker; Devenney (Hughes '77), Maguire; Guest, Lane (Hudson 87), Clayton; Bentham . Subs: Foster, Moss, Wilson, Hughes, Hudson.

Match report written by Robert Summerscales