Whitby Town assistant boss Franks delighted with battling point against Hyde

The Seasiders made it four unbeaten with the win, climbing up to 16th in the NPL Premier Division, with a chance to potentially climb further on Saturday when Matlock visit, writes Paul Connolly.

Jack Redshaw gave the visitors the lead in the clash five minutes before half-time, with Whitby levelling matters late on courtesy of skipper Dan Rowe turning the ball home, after a great run from Harry Green in the build-up.

And Franks was happy with the hard-fought point his side picked up, in awful conditions.

“It wasn’t the ideal conditions,” Franks said.

“Both teams were scrapping for the three points. They’re a good team so overall we’re happy with a point.

“We’ve had a good few chances over the game and it was disappointing to not get the goal before half-time.

“I think it’d have been harsh had we lost the game, and they probably felt the same.

“We feel like we had the better of the opportunities over the game, but on the whole a draw was probably a fair result.”

From the outset - and despite the conditions - both sides were looking to sneak an early advantage.

On-loan Aaron Braithwaite forced a corner with a deflected effort just a few minutes in, before Harrison Beeden turned the resulting set-piece just over, while at the other end Callum Spooner’s drive from range was tricky for Shane Bland to deal with, with the Whitby gloveman getting his hands on the effort at the second attempt.

Beeden continued to cause problems in the Hyde box from set pieces. He saw a powerful effort deflected in front of goal, leaving him to wonder how he hadn’t got his second goal in two games.

Twenty minutes in, Whitby had the heroics of Bland to thank that they weren’t a goal behind. A ball in from Liam Tongue bounced awkwardly in front of Soni Fergus. His sliced attempted clearance was goal bound, Bland’s lightning-quick reactions seeing him keep it out of the net with his forearm.

By this point, the high-flying visitors were looking to turn the screw and find an opening. Tom Pratt fired over the bar from close range, before Jack Redshaw’s powerful effort from distance was deflected wide for a corner.

At the other end, Lewis Hawkins must have thought he’d given Whitby the lead when he drilled a first-time effort goalwards from twenty yards, only to be denied by Daniel Atherton’s low parry away. Braithwaite, following up, could only fire the second effort wide.

Connor Simpson was next to get in on the action for Whitby, heading wide from Hawkins’ right-wing cross.

It was soon time for a Whitby let-off, moments before the visitors opened the scoring. The Seasiders failed to clear, with Bland stuck well out of his goal. The ball dropped for Edward Brown, though he couldn’t find his composure before firing wide of the upright from 18 yards.

And two minutes later, Hyde had the lead. Jamie Bramwell saw the ball nicked off his feet, before Hyde slotted through to Redshaw in acres of space. The Tigers’ forward rounded an onrushing Bland, before firing into the roof of the net from a tight angle.

Whitby rallied following the goal, and had a few chances to go into the break level. Fergus drove an effort over the bar from twenty yards, before Simpson saw his curling effort go just wide of the upright.

On the stroke of half-time it was the turn of Jake Day to go close, though he could only head into the hands of Atherton.

After the restart, Redshaw continued to prove to be a thorn in Whitby’s side, heading over just four minutes into the second half.

But despite the visitors’ early chance, Whitby were pushing hard to level matters. Jake Day glanced a header over the bar from Braithwaite’s shot, with Simpson breaking for the Seasiders just moments later. He, however, saw his shot blocked before Hyde scrambled the ball back to custodian Atherton.

Perhaps the closest Whitby came to an equaliser was three minutes later, when Brad Fewster fired a powerful volley just wide of the upright.

With ten minutes remaining, Tom Pratt fired a low effort into the hands of Bland, though you sensed if a goal was coming, it’d be from the Blues.

And so it came to pass with three minutes of normal time remaining. A fantastic run from substitute Green saw him get to the byline before cutting the ball back. Whitby skipper Rowe, in the middle of a sea of bodies, was the man to get the telling touch, turning home on the edge of the six yard box to pull Whitby level.

Rowe almost won it for the Seasiders a couple of minutes later too, though he could only head wide from Priestley Griffiths’ corner.

Green was looking to get in on the act too to secure three points, curling goalwards and into the hands of Atherton, before Day dragged an effort well wide with seconds remaining, despite having Priestley Griffiths in plenty of space on an overlapping run to his right.

The draw sees Whitby climb another place to 16th, in a run that sees them sixth in the NPL form table, having lost just one of their last six matches, picking up 11 points from a possible 18.

The Seasiders return to action on Saturday in the league, when Matlock Town visit the Towbar Express Stadium at the Turnbull Ground. Please note that this game is a 1pm kick-off.