Whitley Bay 2

Witton Albion 4

UniBond First Division

Saturday, October 16

NIGEL Gleghorn may think twice before taking himself off next time Witton are cruising to victory.

The player-manager's two goals had given his side a 3-0 cushion but after his second-half departure, Albion almost let the points slip by conceding two late goals.

However, David Anane restored a two-goal lead to ensure that Albion went clear at the top of the UniBond First Division.

The pattern of the whole game could have been so different if Whitley Bay, playing in front of their biggest crowd of the season, had taken the lead on seven minutes. Michael Dibie, on his first appearance since signing from York, missed an open goal and the visitors punished him with three goals in 10 minutes.

On nine minutes Brian Pritchard's free-kick was headed past his own keeper by Brian Hetherington, pressured by a challenge from Gleghorn.

Three minutes later, Gleghorn made it 2-0 when he beat a poor offside trap and slotted the ball past Dale Walker in the Bay goal.

The third came from Albion's first corner after 20 minutes. Charlie Boyd's kick was headed on by Pritchard and Gleghorn gleefully volleyed in his fifth goal in three games.

With confidence high, Boyd tried a cheeky lob from 45 yards on 40 minutes, but his effort just cleared the crossbar.

Witton kept the momentum going up until the hour mark, and Walker kept the score down with fine saves from Anane and Gary Cooley.

After Gleghorn took himself off, he spent the rest of the match in a furious mood as his defence lost concentration and almost let their opponents stage a sensational fightback.

Steve Makin headed their first on 71 minutes, a minute before a strong penalty claim, for a tackle by Cooley on Jon King, was waved away by the referee.

Ten minutes from time, Bay reduced the deficit to one when Lee Picton rose unchallenged to head home.

However, a relieved group of travelling fans and players went home happy when Anane pounced on a collision between the keeper and a defender to slot in the clincher.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.