Whitby Town lose out 1-0 on the road at play-off rivals Worksop Town

Even Shane Bland's heroics could not stop Whitby Town from slipping to a 1-0 loss on the road at Worksop Town. PHOTO BY BRIAN MURFIELD

The Seasiders entered their first away clash of the year on the back of a six game unbeaten run to take on a Worksop Town side who sat third in the table, writes Will Berwick.

Whitby offered very little in terms of goal threat themselves as a lacklustre attack on the day let down a superb defensive display from the back four of the Blues.

The game would get underway with the first ten minutes being a rather cagey affair, especially in the midfield as both sides struggled to take control of the game.

Worksop, though, would start to pile on the pressure, asking questions of Whitby defensively for the majority of the first half, keeping them pinned within their own half.

Chances for the away side were very rare to find as Daniel Rowe saw his effort early in the first half go sailing over the crossbar.

Jamie Bramwell also had an attempt from distance but was denied by the Worksop goalkeeper Sebastian Malkowski.

Bradley Fewster would be the recipient of a cushioned long ball which led to him being in on goal.

His effort, though, was rather poor by his standards as the ball was cannoned over the goal frame into the crowd behind the goal.

Worksop would began to pepper Shane Bland’s goal, but the Whitby shot stopper would be equal to any cross or shot that came his way in the opening 45 minutes.

Whitby would come out for the second half in similar form as they were immediately under the cosh, a position they looked comfortable in as the towering figures of Rowe and Harrison Beeden were clearing every header away.

Heroics from Shane Bland would keep the score at 0-0 as he denied Jay Rollins who was played clear in on goal. He then produced another top draw save to deny Luke Hall.

However, the defensive resilience from Whitby was undone in the 77th minute as Jay Rollins beat Connor Smith down the left-hand side and sent a dangerous ball in which was unfortunately met by the outstretched foot of Bramwell who knocked the ball into the visiting team’s net.

Worksop would go on to comfortably see the game out, handing Whitby their first Premier Division defeat of 2024.