Seasiders beaten in title decider

from Withernsea Community News - Issue 16, March 2022

Council tax increases for 2022/23 financial year

WITHERNSEA AFC visited Allotment Road in Driffield on Saturday, February 26 to take on Langtoft AFC in what was billed as the potential title decider in East Riding County League Division 2. The home team who were unable to play at their usual home location of Rudston had arranged for the game to be moved to Driffield.

Withernsea were supported by a good following hoping for a big performance. The game started in end-to-end fashion with both sides having a healthy share of chances. In a goalless first half It was clear that the seasiders felt they were not getting the decisions from the referee, this spilled over with Luke Smith taking a 10-minute sin bin for dissent before half time. The other major decision from the first half for the referee to deal with was a strong challenge from Withernsea captain Iley. Clearly taking the ball but in a fashion that was deemed by the referee to be out of control, the Withernsea player was a little lucky to escape with a yellow card, on a different day it could have been a straight red.

After a goalless first half the game came to life in the second half. Langtoft scored after a defensive mistake let in the striker to put them in front. Smith quickly equalised with a composed finish to bring things back to level. Following this there was a period where two big decisions would settle the game and set the temperature for the rest of the match. Langtoft broke forward with a long ball passed through the midfield and coming in from the left-hand side the striker seemed to be at least five yards offside. The referee who was caught up in back play called play on and Langtoft went 2-1 up despite the complaints from the away team. Shortly after this Withernsea thought they had equalised when Randle broke away to score what looked like a good team goal, but this was given offside by the referee from a challenging vantage point.

Langtoft started to come into the game a little bit more from this point and went 3-1 up with what looked to be a decisive goal, again from a defensive mistake which was becoming a bit of a theme for the lads. Hope was then briefly restored as Smith, who looked sharp throughout, scored with a great finish to bring Withernsea back into contention. Just when the game was coming to a crescendo it was again the man in the middle who took centre stage. A spate of bookings / sin bins saw Withernsea go 4-2 down shortly followed by being reduced to 10 men, then nine men as dissent and indiscipline saw Iley and Burdon leave the field. Several other Withernsea players were booked in a short period of time. The nine men held their own in the final period of the match, but it wasn’t to be for Withernsea on a tough day against a well drilled side.

Results on the day mean it looks likely that both sides will be promoted to League Division 1 (see table)