Whitby Town 1 Winsford Utd 2

UniBond Premier Division

By ANDY MAYLOR

WINSFORD cynics, of whom there are many, may have dismissed last year's FA Cup hammering as a one-off against a highly-rated Whitby side - but now even the pessimists may have to change their train of thought.

Six hundred and fifty Yorkshiremen have their own views on Dalton Steele's side and offered warm applause as the players trooped off in the rapidly worsening fog which raced in from the North Sea.

The message though was crystal clear to the rest of the UniBond League - United are in the mood to challenge for the league title.

Some 12 months ago Whitby scored first in a whirlwind start before succumbing to a United goal rush started by Steve Shaughnessy.

It was a similar scenario this time around, although Blues managed to keep out the early onslaught before taking command in the second half and again it was Shaughnessy who got his team up and running.

The striker is having a ball at the moment and is dangerously close to the top of the UniBond scorers' chart. This strike took him to seven for the season and it followed a sweeping move of high quality.

Only six minutes had gone in the second half when Steve Aspinall won the ball just inside his own half and with a precision pass sent Gary Thomas hareing down the left.

Shaughnessy was suddenly in a glorious position and when Thomas duly obliged with a perfect pass the end result was never in doubt as the trusty left foot buried the ball past home keeper Gavin Kelly.

The sharp, biting football would have impressed Dracula, who is meant to be buried in Whitby, and United immediately went for the jugular with another exhibition of ground football, this time involving Colin Lambert and Gary Thomas.

Whitby then survived when Winnie Steele's goalbound shot was deflected for a corner. And after 73 minutes, Whitby survived again when Steele found himself in a two against one situation but could not find a way to release Lambert.

These were nervy times for United as they searched for the comfort zone that the second goal would bring them. Whitby made a couple of substitutions and one of the replacements, John Francis brought out a good stop from Andy Oakes while United's man of the match, Dave German, made several timely interventions.

Winsford also made a change, bringing on Nathan Peel for Shaughnessy, and it was Peel who notched the crucial second with 10 minutes left.

Whitby left their defence short-staffed and Peel lashed onto a Steele ball before drawing the keeper and finding the gap at the near post.

That goal proved to be even more valuable as Whitby pulled a goal back on the final whistle. Captain Dave Logan took a free-kick on the edge of the area and was as surprised as anybody when the tame effort passed through a sea of legs before nestling in the net.

The win left United still in second place, five points adrift of surprise leaders Worksop, but having pulled three points clear of joint third placed teams Hyde United and Runcorn.

Winsford: Oakes, German, Heesom, Hibbert, Talbot, Thomas, Hussin, Lambert, Shaughnessy (Peel, 76 mins), Steele, Aspinall.

Attendance: 650.

Man of the match: Dave German.

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