15th February 2003

Westella & Willerby 1 v 1 Withernsea Town

On a pitch less than ideal for football, it was Withernsea who had the better of the early exchanges. After a good one-two on the edge of the area, Batty's shot was turned round the post by Herschell-Smith, for Withernsea to claim their first corner inside the opening 5 minutes. The Westella keeper was again called into action as he saved well from Reynolds. Westella eventually got a foothold on the game in the 20th minute when Robinson had his effort tipped wide. 5 minutes later Darren McGrath broke the off-side trap and was one-on-one with the keeper only for his effort to hit the bar. Westella continued to press and it was Darren's brother Mark who had his shot brilliantly cleared off the line. Darren McGrath continued to pull the strings and his clever ball put Nuttall through on goal but his shot went well wide and the teams went in 0-0 at the break. 10 minutes after the break it was Withernsea who broke the deadlock. The ball broke to the left and Reynolds attempted cross floated over Herschell-Smith's head and luckily went in at the far post. Westella pressed hard looking to get something out of the game and Darren McGrath continued to cause problems down the Withersea right. He dribbled past two players and crossed for Nuttall only for him to shoot wide. After missing a string of one-on-ones Westella hit a stunning equaliser in the 68th minute through Robinson. Westella passed the ball well from back to front and Robinson drilled the ball into the top corner from just outside the area to make the score 1-1. Westella had a few chances to take the lead but the Withernsea keeper never faltered in the one-on-one situations. Withernsea could have won the game themselves after Reynolds blazed a shot over the bar from 8 yards. Withernsea finished with a spate of corners without really threatening the Westella goal and the biggest winner of the day had to be the pitch!