IT all started to go wrong for Whitby as early as the third minute when a long through ball from the Blyth midfield, saw striker Robert Dale charge through on goal, only to be bundled to the floor at the edge of the box by Ashley Lyth.

Referee Mr Coy had no hesitation and reached straight for the red card, dismissing a very annoyed Lyth from the park and condemming the Seasiders to 10 men with 87 minutes to go.

Luckily the resultant Blyth free kick ended with nothing and within three minutes, against the run of play, Whitby who took the lead.

The ball was bouncing around harmlessly in the centre of the park between the two teams, when new signing Jimmy Beadle turned and chipped it over the Blyth defence and into the net past keeper Gareth Powell, who stood motionless as it flew past him.

Karl Charlton then took an early knock and had to be replaced by Steve Huggins.

With 17 minutes gone, Blyth drew level with a superb free kick from the edge of the Whitby area, bending around the defensive wall and past a fully outstretched Campbell in the Whitby goal.

Blyth then continued to have the upper hand and could have increased their lead from the head of Dale, only to see his effort well saved by Campbell.

However, the home side did go ahead in the 36th minute when a deep free kick into the Whitby box saw McCabe run in and head the ball, unchallenged, into the Whitby net.

Whitby then struggled to make any headway near the Blyth goal and although their build up play was good, the finishing wasn't quite the same and their last effort of the half came from the boot of Danny Brunskill, whose 20-yard shot went woefully over the bar.

Whitby came out forcefully in the second half and enjoyed much of the possession and better play.

Tony Hackworth's strike went just over the Blyth bar on 54 minutes and two minutes later, a run from Steve Huggins on the left saw him cut inside and hit his shot into the side netting.

Then, on the hour, another Brunskill effort from 25 yards out was well saved by keeper, Powell.

Whitby still looked like they could get an equaliser but were punished in the 64th minute when Dale picked up the ball at the edge of the area, turned inside and toepoked it past a diving Campbell for 3-1.

Straight from the re-start, Whitby pulled one back after a foul at the corner of the Blyth area.

Up stepped Steve Huggins to superbly place his shot over the wall and into the top left hand corner of the net.

But there was more woe for Whitby within a minute as once again the unmarked Dale turned inside, hit a shot past Campbell for what seemed a certain goal, only to see a superb one handed save from Whitby's Mark Tinkler on the goal line.

The referee had no alternative but to brandish the red card and the visitors were down to nine men with more than 20 minutes left on the clock.

Dale decided to take the penalty himself and calmly stepped up and slotted it past Campbell low to the left for a 4-2 lead.

But Whitby continued to battle hard and introduced the impressive Sam Garvie into the game as well as Andy Thompson.

Shortly afterwards a shot from Tony Hackworth went agonisingly close on 75 minutes.

But the home side's man of the match Dale did kill off any chance of a late Whitby comeback with six minutes remaining.

His tame short was uncharacteristically juggled by keeper Campbell, as if the ball was too hot to handle, into the Whitby net and to the delight of the home fans.

With only two minutes remaining, Blyth could have scored a sixth with another unchallenged shot from Jed Dalton, but Campbell redeemed his earlier error with a fine save off his legs.

It may seem amazing to say, but the score didn't really reflect the game and a few neutral onlookers commented afterwards that in their opinion, the fitter and better footballing side were the team that lost.

There was certainly no love lost on the pitch, with some pretty horrendous challenges from both sides flying in, although the referee unfortunately booked mainly Whitby players for any of these.

Blyth Spartans now face an away tie against Buxton in the next round while Whitby must turn their attentions to an important home clash against Prescot Cables tomorrow.

Result: Blyth Spartans 5 Whitby Town 2
Whitby Town: Campbell, Burgess, Bishop, Lyth, Tinkler, Beadle, Burton (Garvie), Hackworth, Brumwell, Brunskill (Thompson), Charlton (Huggins). Subs not used: Raw, Ormerod, Ledgeway (GK)
Attendance: 408