Boss Nathan Haslam hands credit to players for Whitby Town’s NPL Premier survival

The Blues drew 2-2 with Belper Town having officially confirmed their status as a Northern Premier League Premier Division side the previous week at Atherton Collieries, writes Liam Ryder.

But after a nightmare start to the season which saw Town cut adrift at the bottom of the table, Haslam was delighted with how the side turned their fortunes around.

"It was a daunting job to take on," he said. "We were rock bottom in the table and ten points or so away from safety.

"We weren't scoring goals and we were conceding goals, so it's a credit to the boys that they turned it around."

It took until late September for the Seasiders to register their first league win of the campaign at Nantwich Town, and since then, Whitby slowly but surely climbed the table.

Consistency was always going to be key if Town were to survive and that's something that Haslam's men were just about able to find.

"We've had a degree of consistency since that win at Nantwich and the lads have been brilliant through the season.

"We now know that we need to be better next season and we certainly need to get off to a better start than we did last year.

Looking ahead to the off season, Haslam discussed his and the Whitby Town Board's plans for the 2022/23 campaign and the schedule in place over the coming weeks.

The Town boss admits that he is happy with the squad he has built in his time in solo charge at the Towbar Express Stadium @ The Turnbull Ground.

"It's important that everyone has at least a few weeks off. We all need a well-deserved break and a re-charge. We'll come back in pre-season, we'll be well drilled, and we're going to be busy in the summer.

"We've got everybody that's in the squad secured for next season so I'm very happy about that. With Lewis Ritson, it's like getting a new player back and it's now about getting a good pre-season in for him and then pushing him on when the new season starts."