Whitehaven Amateurs lose at Marske but stay top of table
Last updated 13:34, Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Whitehaven Amateurs stay top of the Skilltraining Ltd Northern League Division two but their campaign has stuttered.
A 1-0 defeat at Marske on Saturday means they have only taken one point from the last three league games.
That put Marske just five points behind with four games in hand – and the rest of the pack are even closer.
Whitehaven lead Norton and Stockton Ancients by a point but they three games in hand and Horden CW trail by four points with three games in hand.
Marske have won 11 of their last 12 games and the only defeat came in mid-week when they lost after extra-time and penalties to Stokesley in a Cup clash.
But the game in Redcar was spoiled by a fierce wind which turned the contest into a lottery and neither side was ever happy.
Whitehaven manager John George said: “I think there was really only one shot on target in the whole game and that won Marske the points.
“We had played against the wind in the first-half and were congratulating ourselves on a good performance. We had defended superbly so that they didn’t have a dangerous in the 45 minutes.
“But when we turned round we found it was just as hard playing with the wind because it was so strong. The nearest we came was when a ball was hooked over the keeper when he came too far but bounced past the post.”
The only goal came from a breakaway after a Whitehaven free-kick had been cleared.
Whitehaven hope to get their season back on track on Saturday when they host North Shields in a League clash at the County Ground.
It clearly wasn’t Whitehaven’s day because on the way back to west Cumbria the team coach – a brand new one – got stuck in flood water at Dearham and the players had to wade clear.
