“It can’t and won’t be accepted” said Denny Ingram after Whitby Town’s game against Warrington yesterday was effectively finished at half time.
The visitors netted twice in two minutes early on. With just 11 minutes on the clock, Josh Vela had the ball in the Whitby net. Reece Daly’s shot cannoned back to Vela whose deflected effort flew past Jack Norton in the home goal.
Within seconds it was two, Daly’s corner found Lewis Earl who tried a snapshot from the edge of the penalty area and Scott Butler was on hand to sweep home with his left foot.
Vela then repaid Daly for the opener by sliding Daly through and he left his marker on the ground before curling low past Norton.
Whitby made a desperate double change in the aftermath as Marley Grant and Lucas Reed made way for Callum Hickman and Tommy Dowson after 21 minutes.
Mo Gashi’s free-kick was comfortably saved by Mateusz Hewelt with the visitors remaining on top.
Norton clawed away from Vela and the Blues keeper pushed away Vela’s goalbound effort, five minutes before half-time. The Cheshire side made sure of the win in first-half injury time as Daly’s corner found Earl whose powerful drive was spilled by Norton onto a defender in a crowded box for 4-0, leaving Whitby with a daunting second half challenge.
Ingram, deputising for Lee Bullock, introduced Jack Kilpatrick for Gashi on the hour mark as Whitby searched for something to salvage.
Jack Goodwin saw his shot blocked before Whitby’s day was summed up on 66 minutes. Zayn Sadiq was booked for a foul on Stu Rose and the normally-reliable Blues skipper clipped the crossbar with the resulting penalty.
Earl later saw a free-kick deflect into Norton’s hands before Whitby made further changes, with Adam Gell replacing Ben Turner and Callum Wilson coming on for Joey Phuthi during the closing stages.
The match became increasingly scrappy as cautions were shown to Luke Burke of Warrington, and Sam Kay, James Dillon and Kilpatrick of Whitby, but Warrington still had time to add further gloss to the scoreline. Deep into stoppage time, Daly grabbed his second goal of the afternoon to complete the scoring and secure a comprehensive victory for the visitors.
Afterwards, Ingram said: “Not good enough by any stretch of the imagination today. It can’t and won’t be accepted. Everyone associated with the club from fans, volunteers and committee deserve so much more and it’s our job to make sure that happens.”
Whitby’s man of the match was Sam Kay who said the team needs to learn from a “tough to take” defeat while the fans need to “trust the process”.
He told The Anchor: “Most of the goals today were our own doing and, as a collective, we need to start games better. Even if a goal goes in we need to react and not let it affect us mentally.
“It’s been a tough start to the season in regards to who we’ve played, as well as the frequency of games. We’ve put a hell of a lot of effort into them as the fans can see.
“Fatigue could creep in, but that’s me making no excuses about today. We’re a new group and still early into the process. Results like today happen across the country up and down the leagues. We just need to make sure it doesn’t happen again. We can use it as something to learn from and it be that fire in our bellies to never have to feel like that again.
“I know the lads are gutted and I speak for them too. We know we weren’t good enough and will take everything that comes our way. We’re a squad we win and lose together. It’s a long old season and we need the fans more than ever. Trust the process, we’re only just getting started.”
Attendance at The Turnbull was 589 with Whitby’s next game being Cleethorpes away on Tuesday night.
