Louis Johnson's thunderous effort fired the Steelmen into the lead at the Towbar Express Stadium before the former Bishop Auckland forward on the 20-minute mark found the visitors two ahead.

A Trialist's composed finish, though, got Town on the scoresheet on the half-hour but despite a further first half goal from Adam Boyes, the Seasiders were able to respond in the second 45 minutes with goals from Layton Watts and Woods; a commendable effort from Gary Liddle's men who were severely depleted for this pre-season outing.

The visitors began the contest in strong fashion as Bradley Fewster found space to cut in from the left before 18-year-old goalkeeper Joel Neale pushed his low effort out for a corner.

In the seventh minute, Johnson broke the deadlock with a tidy finish, collecting the rebound after Fewster's effort had initially been saved by Neale before rifling an unstoppable strike from a tight angle into the roof of the net.

Redcar goalkeeper Josh Mazfari produced a key stop to prevent Watts from levelling against his former club as the attacker's fierce drive was well stopped.

In the 20th minute, however, Whitby's efforts were dealt a further blow as Johnson netted a second for the visitors, with him arriving on to a cut-back from the right flank before striking the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

In the 30th minute, a Trialist fired Whitby onto the scoresheet as he tapped home into an empty net after an initial effort, from another Trialist, was saved by Mazfari.

The lead was increased to two again as Boyes netted a simple third for Redcar after he was gifted possession by Nathan McGinley, leaving young stopper Neale in a helpless position.

Johnson, looking for a hat-trick, almost fired in a third for Redcar as the striker charged forwards before drilling an attempt narrowly over the crossbar from distance.

Defensive mistakes were in the Redcar ranks too and this resulted in Whitby netting a second of the match early in the second half when the Trialist at number ten closed down Mazfari's kick before squaring to Watts who couldn't miss less than six yards out.

Johnson missed a good opportunity to retain his sides' two-goal advantage with six minutes of the second half played as the hungry Athletic man raced through but his shot was fizzed wide of the far post.

Whitby, fresh from beating Thornaby 3-1 in midweek, looked to level matters as Woods danced forwards and slipped the ball through to a Trialist who was denied by Mazfari with a first-time effort.

Whitby continued their push for an equaliser with Connor Smith flashing the ball across the face of goal, however, somehow Watts was unable to find the net at the back post.

Danni Lay, a centre-back by trade, picked up the ball on the edge of the Whitby box and struck over the crossbar with a curling effort just a minute before the Seasiders equalised.

Whitby's reward was a Woods leveller, with the midfielder arriving on the edge of the area before managing to pick out the bottom right-hand corner of Mazfari's goal.

Boyes went close to restoring Athletic's lead after being played in one-on-one but he could only steer his poked attempted wide of the left-hand post.

Town also could have nicked the win towards the end of the 90 minutes after both a Trialist, the scorer of the first goal, and James Harrison seeing attempts bravely blocked at the back post.