FC United slip to narrow defeat at Whitby Town

FC United’s four game unbeaten run came to an end as the Reds lost 1-0 at Whitby Town on Tuesday night with a single goal in the 18th minute from Seasiders’ number 10 Bradley Fewster sealing the game.

The visitors struggled to respond to early pressure which was unrelenting. The Reds didn’t use the ball as well as we have seen them do at times this season, and Whitby broke well from the defence when they were allowed to with clinical counter-attacking play.

The pressure was piled on from the start by the home side, and FC United really didn’t have the rub of the green early on. This was partly due to the early booking of Reds centre-back Curtis Jones, and this really set the tone for the rest of the night at The Turnbull Ground. 

Sam Burns picked up a knock and have to be substituted later in the game, however in the early exchanges, he was the bright spark for FC. He seemed to be pressing as much as he could, but Whitby managed to weather this storm. The long ball was to be the main tactical feature for the home side, as it seemed to be causing problems for the FC back line all night.

Whitby had their first big chance in the 16th minute as Fewster got hold of a fortunate ball, only to force Dan Lavercombe into a smart save to tip it onto the crossbar and smother the drop-down. It was just two minutes later that Whitby opened the scoring, and it was good play down the middle from midfielder Priestly Griffiths, that left a chance for talisman Fewster. He made no mistake tucking the ball neatly under Dan Lavecombe.

Some worrying news for FC came in the 29th minute as leftback Adam Dodd was forced off with injury, and had to be replaced with Joe White. The mounting injuries and knocks from this game should be telling of the physicality of it, with each side not willing to give the other an inch.

Whitby worked many more chances in that first half, however they lacked that deft touch in the final third to tuck them home. The best chance for FC in the first 45 came in injury time as Michael Donohue pinged an absolute peach of a ball across the park to Nathan Dyer, who did well to work the chance cutting in from the left hand side, but the cross-cum-shot blazed just over the bar.

The second half proved to be a much better performance from the Reds, as they forced the Whitby ‘keeper into a few smart saves, but again, they just couldn’t find that breakthrough. It wasn’t for the want of trying, as FC seemed to have game of catching practice with Shane Bland in the Whitby goal.

The fightback from FC seemed to only lack one thing, goals. It was later commented by manager Neil Reynolds that FC could have played for 100 more minutes, and they wouldn’t have found the net – this summed up the lack of luck in front of goal. FC were in all the right positions but for some reason or other, it just wouldn’t go in.

Aaron Morris looked to have FC United’s best chance of the game in the 79th minute as he worked the ball into a brilliant position to have a shot that deflected out for an FC corner, but it was the play before the shot that made it special. 

The ball was taken around the defence and the chance was worked from a position that seemed almost impossible to get out of, but nonetheless, FC kept knocking on the door, and weren’t about to lie down.

Yet again, Lavercombe would be called into making a terrific save to prevent Jacob Hazel doubling the Seasiders’ advantage, as he got down smartly to block the shot that was a result of another long ball counter attacking situation. 

As the full-time whistle went, it marked a chance missed for FC United to make it five wins in five, and the Reds left feeling that they really could have got something from that game based on that second half performance.

Neil Reynolds' post-match views
Speaking after the game, FC United manager Reynolds said: “Our back three got pulled about and our back three lost its shape, but listen, I’m not going to criticise lads that are young and that are learning but they have to get accustomed to it.”

When asked if he was going to change tact from the three at the back: “We work on the three, we work on the four, and for us it’s what works best. We thought it would work to pull them about today, it worked in Poland and it worked for spells tonight. I’m not going to give away my tactics, but I’ve got bodies back for Saturday and we might just look to rest and rotate a few.

“I think we look tired in the middle of the park. I think Potts has played back-to-back, back-to-back games now and maybe his passing execution wasn’t what it should be today. I thought we huffed and puffed at the top end, but it wasn’t good enough. We put it down to an off night, but it’s one loss in five so that’s pleasing.

“We had attacking options, and maybe on another night, on another pitch those boys score goals. When you’re huffing and puffing and you’re trying to get that goal, you do start to get irrational and make quick decisions. Maybe the strikers went cold in the box but tonight we didn’t get there. We have to really quickly put this behind us.”

Website man of the match: Dan Lavercombe. It has to be United’s goalkeeper. He made a smattering of top tier saves across the full 90 minutes, showing his ability – and he really did keep the Reds in the contest for the most part of 90 minutes.

Next up for FC United, it’s a visit back up to the east coast as we take on Marske United on Saturday in the Buildbase FA Trophy.

Report by Callum Scott