MANAGER Ian Chandler admitted that he was “emotionally drained” after ten man Whitley Bay survived a nailbiting secondhalf at Lowestoft to clinch a place in the FA Carlsberg Vase final at Wembley on May 10. The skilltrainingltd Northern League side drew 1-1 in Suffolk to secure a 3-2 aggregate win, but only after going a goal down in the opening minutes and having a man sent off.

“Last season when we played there in the first leg of the semi-final, we conceded an early goal and had Brian Rowe sent off, and I thought ‘here we go again’, even more so when we had Lee Kerr sent-off after we equalised,” said Chandler.

“But the lads kept battling away, and did what they had to do. As the tension mounted late in the game, I just sat in the dugout on a water cooler, and I felt more and more shattered.

“Steve Cuggy, my assistant, kept telling me that we were going to hang on, but I was completely drained. I could hardly speak at the final whistle and I was in tears because the game had taken so much out of me. Lowestoft bombarded us late in the game, and the closest they came was when they clipped the top of the crossbar, which didn’t help me and quite a few others either. It was pure, pure tension. It was in the back of my mind that Lowestoft had scored a late equaliser earlier in the competition and had then gone on to win in extra time.

“On Saturday night, there weren’t many happier places to be than in our dressing room. The last time we played in the final was at Villa Park, but this will be even more special because we’ll be playing at Wembley.”

The tension started for Whitley after just two minutes, when Darren Cockerill forced the ball home from a free-kick, but Whitley bounced straight back on 13 minutes, Leon Ryan heading in a Lee Kerr cross. Whitley suffered a blow after 25 minutes when Kerr was controversially red carded for a foul.

In the second half, Whitley looked dangerous on the break, with Adam Johnston and Chris Fawcett both gong close, and as Lowestoft pushed forward, Craig MacFarlane had an effort cleared off the line. However, Lowestoft had most of the pressure, and there was some magnificent defending inside the Whitley penalty area as they held on to become to become the fifth Northern League finalist in the Vase in 13 years.

Whitley, who won the competition in 2002 in the final at Villa Park, will play Glossop North End, Marske United’s conquerors, in the final at Wembley on May 10.

Glossop from the North West Counties League, won6- 5 against Chalfont St Peter on penalties.