Whitby Town throw away 2-0 lead to lose 3-2 at Bamber Bridge

Josef Wheatley had put the away side ahead on the half hour mark at the SFC Stadium, before Max Howells' brilliant finish put the Seasiders two up in Lancashire, writes Liam Ryder.

Callum Leigh's deflected strike gave the hosts hope right on the stroke of half time and the same player equalised with a thunderbolt from distance in the 60th minute to leave Nathan Haslam's charges disappointed.

And their misery would be added to 20 minutes later when Town fell behind thanks to Simon Grand's near post header following a corner as the Blues left the North West empty-handed.

In a somewhat low-key opening, big chances were at a premium, although Stephen Walker could have given the Seasiders the lead when he shot across goal and forced a good save from Ellis Litherland-Riding.

Wheatley's neat finish with 30 minutes on the clock handed the Seasiders the lead; it was a neat finish from the midfielder, who directed the ball into the bottom corner of Litherland-Ridings' goal from outside the box.

There was a sense that Whitby were really starting to get on top and they suffered a blow when Ben Beals had a headed goal ruled out for offside, however they responded to this setback superbly as they extended their lead eight minutes after going ahead.

It was an excellent finish from Howells to got on to the end of Daniel Rowe's knock-down following a free-kick as he emphatically fired the ball beyond Litherland-Riding.

Bamber Bridge began to push for a response and they got themselves back into the game through Leigh as he found the net via a wicked deflection which wrong-footed Shane Bland.

Whitby made a bright start to the second period with Wheatley sending a first-time ball over to Walker, who forced a near-post save from Litherland-Riding to begin second half proceedings.

The advantage the Seasiders held could have been improved on when Howells ran with the ball from his own half before playing it in to Walker who twisted and turned to create himself space before seeing his eventual effort blocked by the ankle of Litherland-Riding.

But with half an hour remaining, the hosts found an equaliser. It was a stunning strike from Leigh as he looped the ball into the top corner from distance beyond the despairing Bland.

A tempting delivery from out side saw the ball fall for Howells inside the box, though his effort was blocked, while substitute Nathan Thomas fired a powerful effort over the crossbar from 20 yards out.

But in between those two chances, Bamber Bridge got themselves ahead as Grand looped a header home from a corner as recent struggle with defending set pieces came back to haunt the Blues once again.

In truth, this was a disappointing afternoon for Town, who showed promise in their attacking play, but regretted missed chances and defensive lapses ahead of their final league outing at home to Macclesfield next Saturday.