Whitby Town denied by Middlesbrough's second-half leveller

A bumper crowd of 1,934 packed into the Towbar Express Stadium @ The Turnbull Ground and saw both sides play some breath-taking football at times, particularly in the first half, writes Liam Ryder.

Victory wasn't to be for the Seasiders though, as a spirited Boro side came back from two goals down to draw 2-2 thanks to Lindo's equaliser after 71 minutes.

A youthful Boro side looked lively from the off, enjoying the first chance of the game in the third minute as Pharell Willis fired into the hands of Shane Bland with a tame low shot.

The opportunity for the visitors to get on top early on though wasn't provided as, on the counter, Whitby's Marcus Giles struck the post from as he tried to hit an attempt across Middlesbrough goalkeeper Oliver Swan.

With eight minutes on the clock, Whitby got themselves ahead. Aaron Haswell was fouled 25-yards from goal, and with referee Samuel Packer's advantage not coming to anything, the free-kick was awarded. After Priestley Griffiths' dummy, Jake Hackett stepped up to fire right into the top corner of the net.

At the other end, Frankie Whelan saw his effort well blocked by a combination of Jonathan Burn and Daniel Rowe, before Willis and Kamil Conteh were also denied by a resolute Whitby defence.

After a brief spell of pressure, Middlesbrough were made to pay for their profligacy. The second Whitby goal owed much to Hackett and Lewis Hawkins who bagged himself an excellent assist for Giles who calmly slotted the ball beyond Swan from close range.

Middlesbrough were given the opportunity to pull one back when Bland fouled Whelan inside the area as the Boro wing-back looked to round him. Fenton John duly obliged to smash his penalty-kick home for 2-1 before half-time.

The second half saw Whitby make a number of changes, leading to a stop-start type of game with very little rhythm from either side. However, it was the Blues who were on top, with the product in the final third being the real let down.

But Middlesbrough suddenly found some late energy for the last 25 minutes or so, Sam Collins firstly seeing his close-range effort bravely blocked behind for a corner.

Sickeningly for Whitby, they would concede shortly after as their lead was wiped out.

When Whitby managed to clear, it looked as if they may have escaped the danger, only for the ball to be played back into the area leading to a scramble.

The ball fell kindly to Lindo who managed to squeeze the ball over the line under Bland who would likely have only seen the ball at the last second as both sides had to settle for a draw in what was an entertaining midweek encounter.