Evo-Stik match report: Nantwich Town 2 Whitby Town 1

By James Briscoe
Nantwich Town’s Harry Clayton carried on where his Wembley hero brother Max left off by firing the Dabbers to victory.

Clayton (pictured) thumped home a leveller for Nantwich as they came from behind to beat Whitby 2-1.

Nantwich proved their wins against Witton Albion and Eastwood Town were no flukes as they passed Whitby off the Weaver Stadium pitch.

And it was too much for the visitors who had their manager and captain sent off in second-half stoppage time.

Despite the Dabbers dominating possession and chances in the first half the visitors took the lead.

Graeme Armstrong scored from a penalty after Ryan Dicker’s challenge on Nathan Mulligan was deemed a foul by busy referee, Barry Cropp.

Nantwich’s youngsters came out for the second half with determination and it was only four minutes until Crewe Alex loanee Clayton took full advantage of an Alex White miss-kick to fire powerfully over Whitby goalkeeper David Campbell.

The Dabbers’ tails were up and it was not long before Oliver Devenney calmly stroked home a second after Josh Lane’s direct run and shot from a narrow angle could only be parried by Campbell in the 54th minute.

Nantwich’s back four kept their composure and shape, forcing the away team in to long shots from Armstrong early on.

Recent Nantwich signing Tom Bentham looked strong and the hosts continued to pass the ball well.

Clayton saw a powerful long effort whistle wide before Whitby’s penalty gave them an unexpected lead.

But that only spurred the Dabbers on to produce a sterling comeback.

Whitby did create several chances at 2-1 but Nantwich always looked like scoring a third with Joe Guest forcing a save after a skilful Clayton run and pass.

With only a couple of minutes of stoppage time remaining there was still time for Whitby captain Kevin Burgess to see red for a bad tackle and their manager, Darren Williams, suffered the same fate when he swore at the referee.

Nantwich: Brain; Cole, Bailey, Raglan (c), Dicker; Devenney (Hughes ’77), Maguire; Guest, Lane (Hudson 87), Clayton; Bentham . Subs: Foster, Moss, Wilson, Hughes, Hudson.