Whickham brush aside Crook to claim victory at Millfield

Whickham produced arguably one of their best performances of the season claiming all three points under the watch of caretaker manager Matty Pattison. WRITES ADAM TONES.

The Lang Jacks, who are without a manager following the mid-week departure of popular figure Tony Fawcett; remained professional and secured a 3-0 away victory at Millfield.  

Sam Dibb-Fuller started the scoring early in the first half before a header in either half from Dom Agnew and Jamie Dunn rounded off a comfortable win. 

Whickham produced the first shot of the afternoon when Dibb-Fuller controlled Agnew’s first-time pass before drilling his shot over Ronan Makepeace’s crossbar. 

Dibb-Fuller made no mistake second time around after collecting an exquisite ball from Dunn before curling his shot into Makepeace’s far right-hand corner. 

The Lang Jacks doubled their lead when Dibb-Fuller’s floated free kick was met at the front post by Agnew to head home half way through the first half. 

Scott Robson should have wrapped up victory 10 minutes before half time, the striker neatly dummied his man before beating Makepeace but not his right-hand post. 

Dunn was next to rattle the post after rising highest inside the Crook box, but his header hit the underside of Makepeace’s crossbar before being cleared from danger. 

Caretaker manager Matty Pattison asked for more of the same in the second half and that’s exactly what his Whickham side delivered. 

Joey Smith’s inch-perfect pass split open the Crook defence within minutes of the restart, but Makepeace was alert to save Dunn’s shot before Robson’s effort on the rebound rolled inches wide. 

The home team’s only effort on target came on 51 minutes when Adam Burnicle’s shot from a tight angle forced Nathan Harker into a neat save.

Harry Yoxall, who was at the heart of everything for Whickham all afternoon, skipped past two Crook players before threading a ball through to Robson inside the box but Makepeace again was positioned correctly to make the save. 

Whickham thought they had grabbed their third goal of the afternoon when captain Dale Burrell met Dibb-Fuller’s corner, but the referee deemed Burrell to have fouled Makepeace in the build-up. 

The away team wrapped up the victory when an unmarked Dunn rose highest to head home Shay Richardson’s cross four minutes from time. 

The visitors almost added gloss to the scoreline when Robson’s close-range shot rolled under Makepeace, but a scrambling Crook defence managed to clear the danger. 

After a week of mixed emotions off the pitch, Whickham produced a perfect display on the pitch clinching all three points and another clean sheet. 

Whickham team | Harker, Howard, Garside, Burrell ©, Agnew, Dunn, Richardson, Yoxall, Smith (Young 73’), Dibb-Fuller (Hunt 88’), S. Robson (Jasper 90’)

Subs not used | Below, Galbraith. 

Goalscorers | Dibb-Fuller 16’, Agnew 24’, Dunn 86’.

Referee | Matthew Harris

Man of the Match | Dom Agnew

Listen to chairman Ben Riley reflect on the club’s performance.