Whitby Town pegged back by late Radcliffe Borough goal

Aaron Cunningham put Whitby Town 1-0 ahead on Tuesday night at Radcliffe Borough

Haslam named an unchanged team from the 2-0 win at Nantwich Town a few days earlier, with the only change to the teamsheet being Nick Cranston added to the bench in place of George Scaife.

But despite being happy with his side's performance on the whole, Haslam was frustrated by one key element - his side's profligacy in front of goal.

"Obviously you don't want to concede late but it's a 1-1 draw against a very good team," he said.

"We could have killed the game on three occasions - three one-on-ones - but we haven't and we've paid the price for it.

"The lads worked their socks off though. They've been organised, they've stuck to the game plan and I'm proud of them.

"It's a good point on the road.

It was a lively start to the game, which saw both sides have chances. Luca Navarro fired into the side netting for the hosts, before on-loan Michael Spellman called Tom Stewart into action at the other end, with the Radcliffe gloveman equal to the low effort.

And it was Whitby who would make the most of the early chances and break the deadlock, just five minutes into the game.

Priestley Griffiths' free-kick from the right was weighted well, finding centre-half Aaron Cunningham who volleyed home off the post inside the box.

It was another 12 minutes before either keeper was called into action, with Shane Bland saving well from Navarro's effort across him, pushing the ball away from danger.

Whitby could have doubled their lead 24 minutes in. Priestley Griffiths unlocked the Radcliffe defence, letting Jake Day bare down on goal, but the Whitby forward saw his effort inside the box pushed wide for a corner.

Boro looked to get the likes of Jude Oyibo and Jem Karacan on the ball as much as possible, though struggled to with the Seasiders snuffing out the majority of the balls into the wingers.

Oyibi almost had some luck, however, when he rose to meet Karacan's cross, though Bland held his header into the ground.

Spellman looked lively for Whitby, and was pushing to add a second for his side. However, his effort two minutes before the break was held convincingly by Stewart.

The Seasiders' second-half subs Aaron Haswell and Brad Fewster - looked the most likely to the tally with lively introductions. A cross from Griffiths almost found the former, though Rick Smith vitally headed away at the near post for a corner.

And the two almost linked up to double the lead for Whitby. Fewster drove forward with the ball from Whitby's clearance and squared for Haswell, though the ball was inches too far in front of Haswell, who failed to get any meaningful touch on the ball inside the box.

And a minute later, Fewster's explosive pace saw him driving forward for Whitby again. The forward timed his run to perfection before getting into the box and shooting across goal. The Boro gloveman, however, was equal to the effort, pushing it wide.

As the game wore on, the nerves grew for Whitby. Nicky Adams fired over the crossbar for the hosts, with them starting to execute a late spell of pressure in search of an equaliser.

It was the visitors who would have the ball in the back of the net again though 17 minutes from time, with Haswell putting the ball into the net from twenty yards and celebrating, before noticing the flag against Harry Green in the build-up

It became a backs-to-the-wall ending for Whitby in the final ten minutes. Heroic defending saw two crucial blocks as the ball pinged around the box, with Joyce and Jake Thompson both having efforts through a sea of bodies.

Gareth Evans fired into the side netting, six minutes from time, before the hosts finally found their breakthrough to level. Matthew Crothers' long throw was knocked into the path of Joyce, who drilled a low effort through the crowd and beyond Bland, with just a minute of regulation time remaining.

The late goal saw the Seasiders go back to the bottom of the Pitching In Northern Premier League Premier Division, with Belper Town running out 2-0 winners over Stalybridge Celtic and jumping back above Whitby.