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Whitley Women narrowly missed out on the North East Division 1 title when Darlington RA beat Glendale 7-0 to pip Whitley on goal difference on the final day of the season.
Whitley had chased Darlington all season and when they beat their rivals 4-1, went top of the League. Whitley completed their fixtures a week earlier with a 5-2 win against Blyth Town leaving Darlington needing to win by 5 goals to clinch the title.
Manager Colin Phillips was disappointed to lose the title by such a slender margin, but was nevertheless proud of his team's achievements in their first season in Regional football. 'To be runners up at our first attempt and only lose one League game all season has been a great effort. Congratulations to Darlington RA who I am sure will do well next season'
In addition to their League campaign, Whitley enjoyed national acclaim for their giant-killing FA Cup run, where they reached the Fourth Round Proper, the only one of the 187 qualifiers to remain at that stage, winning 5 matches on the way, 3 of them against higher League opposition.
They also reached the semi-finals of the League Cup and were beaten 1-0 by North East Premier Division Bradford City.
So, no trophies for the Women this season, but lots of victories, lots of goals and many new fans along the way.
Colin Phillips looks ahead to next season ' We will once again be competing on 4 fronts, the League, the FA Cup, The County Cup and League Cup and next season we will be going all out to take the League title we so nearly had this season. The FA Cup is not a realistic target for us but to reach the Proper Rounds again would be great and it brings in much needed prize money. We can be very competitive in the County Cup and League Cup and we will look to go one better and get to a final'
Congratulations to all the players for a great season, we can't wait to do it all again!
Playing for Whitley Bay this season were (In Alphabetical order)