Stockton Town returned to winning ways with a dominant performance over Whitby Town.
Michael Dunwell returned to a two-striker formation as Michael Fowler returned into the line-up, with Owen Gallacher also starting on the left following his suspension.
After an end-to-end opening to the game, which saw a few wayward strikes for both sides, Stockton grew into the game quicker and had the first big opportunity when Michael Fowler drove through the middle but shot wide of the target.
Whitby were next to have a major chance when Nathan Thomas found space in the box, but the winger was met by a perfectly timed sliding challenge by Lewis King to deny a shot at goal.
Stephen Thompson troubled Shane Bland on a number of occasions early in the first half, and was proving to be a handful for the visitors to deal with.
In the 42nd minute, Thompson picked up the ball in midfield, had a good look at goal and unleashed a rocket over Bland and into the goal off the underside of the crossbar from long range.
Half-time: Stockton Town 1-0 Whitby Town
Whitby found the net almost immediately after the restart, but Nathan Thomas’ sliding tap-in was ruled out for an offside offence against the winger.
In the 53rd minute, a cut-back across the goal found Joshua Baggs open inside the area, but his effort was met by a superb save by Shane Bland who made himself big to keep the score at 1-0.
However, four minutes later, the Anchors did find a second goal when Michael Sweet was unleashed through the middle and finished very nicely for his fourth goal of the season.
Michael Fowler had a number of big chances to add a third goal. After seeing a couple of shots saved by Bland, he found the net with a bicycle kick but was adjudged to have been in an offside position.
Lewis King had a moment of magic just before the ending, beating three players with some fine footwork outside the area but he was eventually challenged before getting a shot goalbound.
Full-time: Stockton Town 2-0 Whitby Town
The Anchors move up to sixth position on 12 points in their opening six games, ahead of Saturday’s FA Cup clash with Widnes at the MAP Group UK Stadium.
Stockton Town: Harker, King, Baggs, Painter (Purewal 37’), Nicholson, Coulthard, Thompson (Roberts 71’), Leech, Sweet (Beddow 72’), Fowler (Spears 92’), Gallacher (Johnson 80’)
Unused Subs: N/A
Whitby Town: Bland, Darcy, Sukar, Liddle, Whelan, Doherty, Walker (Hutchinson 81’), Griffiths (Wheatley 88’), Charles (Haswell 66’), Thomas (Parkinson 85’)
Unused Subs: Smith
Goals: Thompson, 1-0, 42 min; Sweet, 2-0, 57 min.
Attendance: 1,304
Words: Jordan Clarke
Photo: Harry Cook
