Whitby Town suffer 2-1 defeat on the road at Emley
Stan Hewitt's second-half penalty proved only a consolation as Whitby Town suffered defeat on the road against Emley.
Whitby Town were beaten 2-1 by Emley at the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground, despite a late rally which gave the Seasiders hope of rescuing a result.
The visitors made a positive start and almost took the lead inside the opening two minutes when Stuart Rose curled a low effort narrowly wide of the post.
Whitby continued to threaten, with Daniel James seeing a half-volley comfortably gathered by goalkeeper Ben Bottomley on 16 minutes. However, the hosts also carried a threat, and Sam Kay was required to produce an important goal-line clearance in the 10th minute, heading Diego De Girolamo's effort away from danger.
Emley broke the deadlock on 21 minutes. Following a free-kick, the ball fell kindly for Niall Heaton, who looped his strike into the net during the second phase of the attack to give the hosts a 1-0 advantage.
Whitby went into the interval trailing by a single goal and looked to respond after the restart. Though De Girolamo had an effort blocked behind for a corner in the 52nd minute, before Alex White was on hand to clear the resulting delivery off the line.
And following that promising spell, Emley doubled their advantage on 58 minutes. A defensive mix-up allowed Ellis Farrar to steal in and loop a header over Henry Popple, leaving Whitby with a two-goal deficit to overcome.
De Girolamo fired over the bar shortly afterwards as the Pewitts searched for a third goal in the contest, but Whitby's opportunity to pull a goal back arrived in the 69th minute.
Rose was brought down inside the penalty area by goalkeeper Bottomley, leaving the referee with little hesitation in pointing to the spot. Stan Hewitt stepped up and confidently converted the resulting penalty on 70 minutes to reduce the deficit to 2-1.
The goal gave Whitby renewed encouragement, though it was the hosts with the biggest chances. Aaron Haswell delivered a dangerous cross in the 81st minute, but Gabriel Johnson could only direct his header wide at the back post.
Nathan Stephenson then tested Popple with a long-range effort in the 90th minute, but the Whitby goalkeeper held comfortably.
There was still time for one final Whitby opportunity as Callum Hickman attempted an acrobatic effort in stoppage time, although his strike flew high and wide.
Ultimately, Whitby were unable to find a second goal, and the final whistle confirmed a 2-1 defeat.
The Seasiders will take encouragement from their response after falling two goals behind, but ultimately left the Fantastic Media Welfare Ground empty-handed.