A DEVASTATING knockout blow in the dying seconds of this quarter-final tie ended Clitheroe's FA Vase hopes for another season.

A moment of madness from Mark "Psycho" Stewart gave away an unnecessary free kick near the corner flag in the fourth minute of injury time and centre half Danny Anderson fired home the winner.

The Blues players sank to their knees as the referee signalled the end of the game and player-boss Lee Sculpher, who had scored the equaliser with nine minutes remaining, was devastated.

"It's disappointing to work so hard to get back into the game only to give away such a silly goal," said the defender.

"A lack of discipline cost us that last goal and there was no need to do that.

"The people concerned know that it goes without saying in games of this stature that you can't afford to make mistakes like that. I think they know what they have done.

"All the players gave 110 per cent all game and I didn't think we deserved to get beat at all but maybe it is their name on the cup.

"They have been down and out in previous rounds, on the ropes, but all credit to them.

"The surface wasn't helpful, it was always going to be a battle for both teams."

Whitley Bay got off to the perfect start when Ian Chandler headed home the opener from a free-kick on just three minutes assisted by poor marking from the Blues' defence.

The North East side simply sat back from that moment and soaked up the pressure.

If their manager had a game plan, getting an early goal and sitting back on it was almost certainly it.

On a difficult pitch, it was indicative of the way the first half went that at half-time it was only in the Whitley Bay half of the pitch that the turf had cut up - Clitheroe had been camped out in it.

But clear cut chances had been hard to come by as strikers Neil Spencer and Lee Cryer came up against a wall of bodies time after time.

And in the 75th minute it looked all over for Clitheroe when keeper Kris Richens brought down Whitley Bay's Kevin Walton in the box.

But the keeper, who was lucky to still be on the pitch, turned from villain to hero as he dived to his right to keep Walton's spot kick out.

Buoyed by the lifeline they'd been thrown, the Blues continued to pile on the pressure it wasn't until the 81st minute that the breakthrough came.

A corner from Carl Greenwood was knocked goalward by Cryer and Sculpher was there just yards out to steer the ball into the net to the relief of the bumper crowd.

But the heavy pitch had taken its toll on the home side and it was Whitley Bay who had the extra gear when needed.

With the game heading for extra time, after which there would have been a replay, the free-kick was floated in and Anderson headed goalward forcing a great save from Richens, who could only parry the ball back into the path of the defender who toe-poked it home to scenes of jubilation from the visiting bench.

CLITHEROE...1 WHITLEY BAY...2