Whitley Bay 3 Lowestoft Town 0

Mar 30 2008 by Steve Brown, Sunday Sun

(Lowestoft won 4-3 on aggregate)

SO close. So brilliantly, thrillingly, agonisingly close.

For Whitley, the Road to Wembley is closed – their self-made mountain of a week before simply one summit too many to scale.

Yet a week after Easter, by Christ did they almost reinvent the resurrection, as bold talk of overcoming the 4-0 deficit accrued at Crown Meadow was swiftly matched at Hillheads by actions bolder still.

A pulsating opening saw the Seahorses gallop to a 3-0 lead, cutting Lowestoft’s advantage to a slender goal.

The majority of a 2057-strong crowd dared to dream. They couldn’t pull it off, could they?

Alas, no. Though a string of chances followed, the listing Trawlerboys just kept their heads above water and hung on.

To come so near to salvation only compounded chairman Paul McIlduff’s agony.

“I woke up in the morning and thought we’d win 5-0,” he said.

“After 20 minutes I was starting to really believe it and we had other chances.

“But their fourth goal in the first leg made it so difficult. To get so close is just devastating, but the lads have done Whitley Bay proud.”

No kidding. The 2002 FA Vase winners will not be so in 2008, but deserve more than to be forgotten as losing semi-finalists.

Special praise must go to Paul Robinson, who ran the show, the colossal Brian Smith and marauding Lee Picton.

With important cameos, Paul Chow, Chris Moore and Tony Woodhouse weren’t far behind them. Actually, no one was.

It all started with Smith, heading in Picton’s long throw after five minutes – just the start the doctor ordered.

Then, bonus, a second early goal, as Robinson thrashed a blistering 30-yard drive in four minutes later. Hang on...

It got better. On 21 minutes another hurl from Picton was flicked on by Smith and nodded in by Chow.

Howay the Bay, indeed.

“Bloody stupid idea coming here,” a disgruntled fan from Suffolk was overheard muttering.

And her day looked like worsening – looked like.

Almost immediately, Chow hooked over from close range and was then denied by the increasingly crocked away keeper Andy Reynolds.

After the break, the Bay striker volleyed over from Terry Burke’s huge punt, Picton's effort was deflected over after Reynolds fumbled Lee Kerr’s cross and Chow forced a good save from the keeper with a header from Picton’s cross.

Smith, then Picton, both arrowed

strikes over.

At the other end, Burke saved from Darren Cockerill, but the tide was with Whitley.

It just wasn’t quite strong enough.

WHITLEY: Burke 7, Taylor 7, Picton 8, Smith 8, Coulson 7, Graham 7, Moore 7 (Minto 75, 7), Robson 7, Chow 8 (Woodhouse 63, 7), Kerr 7, ROBINSON 9.

Booked: Graham 70, foul

LOWESTOFT: REYNOLDS 7, Poppy 5, Potter 5, Woodrow 5, Saunders 5, Plaskett 5, Godbold 6, Cockerill 6, Stock 4 (McGee 52, 5), Hough 5, King 5

Booked: McGee 76, foul

Ref: N Swarbrick (Preston) 7