Whitby Town 5-1 Boro Rangers

The last game of a long gruelling season for Whitby Town saw them take on Boro Rangers in The WOODSmith Construction North Riding Senior Cup final.

Whitby came into the game of the back of a 2-0 victory against Macclesfield on the final day of the league season two weeks earlier.

Nathan Haslam named an eleven with two changes; Connor Smith and Nathan Thomas coming into the line-up with Junior Mondal and Jacob Gratton missing out, dropping down to the bench.

The action got underway at the Riverside Stadium with the Seasiders starting off with an aggressive attacking approach towards Boro Rangers’ low block.

Three minutes in, Stephen Walker would break the offside trap, leading to him being one-on-one with Daniel Horner before he calmly slotted the ball past the ‘keeper to fire Whitby into the lead.

Whitby would go on to control the majority of possession which led to them doubling their lead in the 31st minute as Walker got himself a second of the evening. This came from Nathan Thomas’ initial hard work; his shot was parried away by the legs of the ‘keeper however, Walker was alert and slid the ball home for a 2-0 lead.

Soon after, Boro Rangers would get one goal back to cut the deficit in half as Nico Weatherald found the bottom corner following a set piece.
The two goal lead would soon be restored shortly after the break as Alfie Doherty finally got his first competitive goal for Whitby. The former Middlesbrough Academy player couldn’t have picked a better place to get his first goal for the Blues.

Boro Rangers did not really lay a glove on Whitby after that as Nathan Thomas made it 4-1, firing home from close range on the rebound after Horner parried Jacob Gratton’s low ball into the box after a fantastic run down the left wing from the substitute.

However, Whitby still had another goal in them as Walker made it 5-1. His, brilliant low driven strike bolted past the ‘keeper to nestle in the back of the net via the post. This was his third of the evening and a hat-trick on his old stomping ground.

Whitby would comfortable see out the game and win the North Riding Senior Cup for the first time since 2017.

Manager Haslam spoke on his sides’ dominant performance following the game.

‘’That was for the fans, I would like to dedicate it to one of our super fans who sadly passed away recently in Tiff Pearson,” he said.

‘’It was a dominate performance, tonight was about us going in with the right attitude and mentality.

“The first goal was taken great by Stephen Walker, and it set the tone for the game.”