Whitby Town edged out 1-0 by fellow NPL Premier strugglers Stalybridge Celtic

Whitby Town's players remonstrate with the referee after the award of a penalty for Stalybridge Celtic PHOTOS BY BRIAN MURFIELD

Whitby Town suffered a narrow defeat in their bottom of the table clash on Saturday, as Raul Correia's second-half penalty gave Stalybridge Celtic a 1-0 win.

In a low-key encounter at the Towbar Express Stadium @ The Turnbull Ground, Correia's strike after the break separate the two sides on an afternoon of few chances.

The striker stepped up to fire home the winner with 61 minutes gone and Nathan Haslam's men were unable to muster a response, with Harry Green and Harvey Tomlinson both going close for the Seasiders as they were unable to build on their impressive midweek victory at Morpeth Town.

The first half brought little action of note, perhaps in part because of the card happy referee who didn't allow the game to build any sort of flow.

Neither Town or their North West opponents were able to carve out any meaningful opportunities, despite the efforts of Jacob Day and Malik Dijksteel.

Forward Day hit a fierce strike straight at Greg Hall and midfielder Dijksteel caused a scare for Celtic, but there were no real chances for Haslam's men, who were tested only occasionally at the other end.

Bland did well to smother Correia's effort, before Theo Bailey-Jones forced a brave block from Daniel Rowe and Tom Miller just missed the ball at the back post.

After Lewis Hawkins - brought on from the bench at half-time after missing the victory at Craik Park with a minor injury - gave away what would turn out to be the match winning penalty, the final 30 minutes of the match would turn out to be frustrating for the Blues.

Harry Green pushes on for Whitby Town in the 1-0 home loss against Stalybridge Celtic

Correia, with his back to goal, was almost just waiting for contact and Hawkins duly obliged as the Stalybridge man went to ground before he stepped up himself to send Bland the wrong way, giving his side the lead.

Just before the goal, Town were forced into a change as Day went off with a nasty injury after taking a long-range shot where it appeared he had caught the underside of someone else's boot leading to the rest of his afternoon being spent in A&E.

Haslam shuffled his pack for the final time in the 65th minute. Dijksteel, who was one of several players to have a disappointing outing, was replaced by Aaron Haswell. Four minutes after, Green saw his effort from the edge of the area pushed around the post by Hall.

With seven minutes of normal time to play, there was a great chance for Green, as he peeled off his man at the back post but he could only rattle the bar with his header, while he then gave Hall a much easier time a minute after as his tame effort was smothered.

By the end, it was Town who looked likeliest to score; Green once again being the man involved but this time, he sliced his shot wide from 18 yards, and they couldn't quite force a leveller.

Whitby: Shane Bland, Soni Fergus, Coleby Shepherd, Jamie Bramwell, Daniel Rowe (C), Aaron Cunningham, Malik Dijksteel (Aaron Haswell 65), Priestley Griffiths (Lewis Hawkins 46), Jake Day (Bradley Fewster 55), Harvey Tomlinson, Harry Green.

Stalybridge: Greg Hall, Tom Miller (C), Matthew Carson, Kyle Harrison, Dahrius Waldron, Godwin Abadaki, Theo Bailey-Jones, Nathan Caine, Raul Correia, Domaine Rouse, Osebi Abadaki (Tinashe Chakwana 72)