Whitley Bay Sporting Club 1-2 Willington Quay Saints: Saints return to the top with late victory

Willington Quay Saints returned to the top of the Reeves Independent First Division with a 2-1 victory at Whitley Bay Sporting Club.

Robbie Shaw continued his excellent season by scoring twice in the final 20 minutes, after the Saints had missed multiple opportunities in the first half.

Whitley Bay pulled one back in the 90th minute, but couldn’t muster an equaliser in stoppage time.

Back to winning ways! 😇 pic.twitter.com/6AddxsHX1r

— WillingtonQuaySaints (@wqsaints) December 6, 2025

After back-to-back defeats to Percy Main and Morpeth, Willington needed to get their promotion charge back on track against second-placed Whitley.

The hosts started better, hitting the bar from range in the third minute, before scoring 10 minutes later, but the offside flag spared the visitors.

A small altercation involving Ben McDermott rallied Gareth Pugh and Mark Henderson’s side, as Ian Fada and Jeremy Amakie forced a brilliant double save from the Whitley Bay goalkeeper.

It was then Shaw’s turn, but he was denied by both the post and a strong save, before his pass across to Fada fizzed wide.

Fada then had another chance early in the second half after being played through down the right, but put his curling effort wide of the far post.

However, after sustained pressure, Fada flicked the ball through to Shaw, who slotted into the bottom corner for a deserved lead on 72 minutes.

Seven minutes later, the Saints scored a near-identical goal, as Fada played Shaw in again, before the winger dinked over the goalkeeper for a two-goal lead.

Whitley pulled one back in the 90th minute with a low drive from outside the box, before a mix-up between Elliot Mitchell and Ethan Dodgson required a goal-line clearance from Luke Taylor to secure the win.

Willington move back to the top of the table, while Whitley Bay have dropped to third and lost crucial ground in the title race.