Lancaster City suffer late penalty heartbreak against Whitby Town

The Dolly Blues showed encouraging signs under new boss Jimmy Marshall but fell to a defeat in the closing stages.

It was a beautiful afternoon at The Giant Axe, the warm and sunny conditions reflecting the mood of many Lancaster City fans this week following the imminent beginning of a new era.

The Dollies started well, with the backline being at the forefront of the action at the other end of the pitch: Conor Haughey headed over from a Sam Bailey cross before Crispin McLean’s corner was met by Harrison Beeden, who could only fire wide.

That aforementioned unlikely duo of McLean and Beeden went on to cause more problems even before a quarter of an hour of game time had passed. Another dead ball situation allowed Beeden to try and latch onto the number seven’s delivery but Shane Bland punched clear.

Dom Lawson and Nic Evangelinos saw close range efforts charged down by the Whitby defence before the half hour mark, before the the two combined well.

On 35 minutes, Lawson shrugged off Nathan McGinley - formerly of EFL and Scottish Premiership sides - before squaring it to Evangelinos. However, the forward, making his first start since early February after a spell on the sidelines due to injury, couldn’t direct his shot towards goal.

Whitby’s number 10 Michael Woods gave them their first effort of the game with five minutes to go until the break, but his awkward shot went over the bar.

In the last action of the first half inside an attacking third, Dylan Thompson’s long range effort stung the palms of Bland before the ball was hooked to safety.

Following a first half in which they were very much on the back foot, the visitors stepped things up a gear after the restart.

Defender Frankie Whelan connected with player-manager Gary Liddle’s long free kick but could only head it into Lewis Forshaw’s midriff.

Substitute Marcus Cusani’s desperation to find the back of the net is clear to see and he came oh-so close to doing so in the 62nd minute, mere moments after entering the fray.

Charlie Cox and Dom Lawson combined well before the striker fed the ball through to Cusani, who had the freedom of Lancaster yet, with a bobbly surface against him, he fired just over.

Fellow sub Aaron Bennett has been working his way back to full strength in recent weeks and was a real ball of energy upon his introduction, he turned a defender and found his way into the box before his effort landed at the feet of Bland.

Moments later, Whitby had a golden opportunity from a set piece.

An out-swinging free kick found the head of Alfie Doherty who was trying to get the ball across the face of the goal and into the path of a fellow Seasiders man, but Lewis Forshaw parried brilliantly.

A really cagey spell followed, before City came agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock late in the day on 87 minutes.

Sam Bailey and Aaron Bennett played a one-two from a throw-in, before the skipper whipped in a cross that met the head of Cusani.

However, he could only find the roof of the net and Whitby - who Cusani has a strong scoring record against - breathed a sigh of relief.

In the fifth minute of added time came the decisive moment: the referee pointed to the spot and awarded the away side a penalty.

Nathan Caine and Adam Gell both went for the ball and the former was judged to have challenged illegally.

Layton Watts converted from 12 yards with a powerful strike high into the middle of the net.

It was a gutting late goal for the Dolly Blues who otherwise would have given Jimmy Marshall a point and a clean sheet in his first game in charge, on which he could really build.

That being said, Lancaster City will look at the positives and will now have the benefit of a full week under the guidance of the new management team ahead of the visit of Blyth Spartans next Saturday (April 12).