Lairds held to a draw as gritty Whitby fight back

Oct 13 2008 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

THE SEASIDERS showed no ill effects of their marathon journey over to Birkenhead as both sides produced an entertaining UniBond Premier encounter.

It was the home side who had the bulk of the chances but Whitby were gritty and kept Lairds at bay. The opening exchange saw the lively Eddie Jebb test Nick Liversedge in the visitors’ goal and seconds later Luke Holden curled a free-kick just wide of the Whitby upright.

At the other end a Steve Huggins effort gave Lairds custodian Khalid Al’Samarie no problems as it curled wide.

It was the second period that the pace of the game increased, Lairds again having the bulk of the play. It was Whitby however, who broke the deadlock when sub Karl Charlton tricked his way into the box to slot past Al’Samarie.

Their joy was shortlived when a Liversedge punt was blocked by the oncoming Liam Atherton and the spiralling ricochet found its way into the net to pull Lairds level.

The Birkenhead men took the lead three minutes later when Mark Reed rose above a static defence to connect with a Chris Adamson cross and nod home.

Lairds’ seemingly-deserved win was snatched from them seven minutes from time when Charlton forced himself into a shooting position and, despite scuffing the shot, the ball ended up trickling over the line to send the visitors happy with a point.