Chertsey Town 1 Whitley Bay 1

Feb 7 2010 by Steve Brown, Sunday Sun

Yet the half continued to belong to Chertsey, as John Pomroy was thrice denied by Burke. Thankfully, the Bay bettered after the break and might have forged ahead through Ryan, Paul Robinson, Adam Johnston, Davie Coulson and Chris Fawcett.

Instead, either side of Pomroy firing over from point-blank range, came the game’s two-pronged turning point.

First, Hodgson was booked for a foul deemed legal by linesman Ernie Moore, over-ruled by referee John Flynn, who then decreed after Hodgson beat two defenders before going to ground in the box, that the Bay boy had dived.

Penalty, surely. Victory secured. Nope. Off went Hodgson, insistent he had been tripped. The pendulum, swinging Chertsey’s way.

And yet, with mere seconds of normal time left, the irrepressible Robinson, assisted after a bone-crunching block tackle by Damon Robson, spotted Stone off his line and from just inside the hosts’ half arrowed an effort that the keeper just, just palmed to safety.

Even before extra time, there was enough for Fawcett to block on the line direct from a Marcus Moody corner and Burke to thwart Kwabana Agyei.

Once into the added half hour, and either side of half-chances for Paul Chow and Coulson, Burke manned the Alamo, twice saving goalbound efforts from Pomroy before tipping another Moody corner on to the bar.

It was heart-stopping stuff. Mine alone must have arrested 10 times. In the end Whitley hung on, like champions do.

In a huddle at the whistle, words were exchanged to remind that on such days new champions can be born, but that this Chertsey side demand respect.

Old Johnny Hodgson begged to differ, mind.

“They’ll get a hammering,” he said, “when they come to our place!”

CHERTSEY: Stone 7, Gibson 6 (Moorhouse 79, 6), TREACHER 8, Tyson 8, Boswell 6, Francis 6, Goddard 8 (Agyei 75, 7), Bamford 6, Pomroy 6, Tarpey 8 (Crossley 105, 6), Moody 7.

WHITLEY: Burke 8, Timmons 7 (Reid 99, 7), Ryan 7, Coulson 8, McFarlane 8, Moore 7 (Fawcett 61, 7), Robson 8, ROBINSON 9, Hodgson 7, Bell 7 (Johnston 61, 7), Chow 8.

REF: John Flynn (Wiltshire) - 6

ATTENDANCE: 617 (150 from Whitley)