Harley Dawson's howitzer set the tie alight right on the stroke of half-time - his first strike in a Whitby shirt - before Donald Chimalilo doubled the Seasiders' lead shortly after the break.

Jim Craig then responded with an emphatic header to make the final 18 minutes tense in Lancashire.

The prospect of a Town win seemed extremely remote on the back of three straight defeats in the Pitching In Northern Premier League, particularly up against an in-form Lancaster side from the same division.

Reverting to a 3-5-2 system, Whitby almost went ahead inside the opening minute as Matthew Tymon back-heeled the ball into the path of James Harrison but the former West Auckland Town attacker, under pressure, forced a save from Brad Kelly.

Harrison was again involved in the seventh minute as he teed up Tymon this time to flash a blocked effort in on goal. Then, Lancaster grew into the game and gave Gary Liddle's side a scare when Lewis Mansell struck narrowly off target from a tight angle.

With ten minutes of the first half remaining, Mansell dragged a low shot wide from the edge of the area after Whitby had been caught napping in possession, then Steven Yawson came close with a strike that was well blocked by Nathan McGinley.

Joe Amision also mustered an effort off target when he headed wide following a corner as Whitby struggled to find chances as they did in the early exchanges.

But it was Whitby who were ahead moments later when Aaron Haswell delivered a corner from the left and Dawson set himself perfectly to unleash an unstoppable thunderbolt past Kelly.

Whitby doubled their lead just three minutes into the second half when Tymon took a free-kick quickly to Chimalilo who twisted and turned before striking low past Kelly.

As the second half developed, Mansell saw an attempt blocked by McGinley - then just a minute later, Charlie Bailey saw an effort drift agonisingly wide of Bland's left-hand post.

Lancaster almost halved the deficit in the 64th minute when Yawson was improbably denied by Bland from close range, with the Whitby gloveman diverting his powerful strike over the crossbar.

An huge turning point arrived in the 57th minute when Alex Nelson, who had already been booked in the first half, was shown a second yellow card after bringing down Mansell when he was baring down on goal. But just when it looked like Town would have to see out the remainder of the game a man down, Mansell too was sent off; being shown a straight red card for dissent.

But the Dolly Blues did score through substitute Craig, who beat Bland with a cannoned header following a cross from the right flank. This was Craig's first touch after entering the pitch.

In the 88th minute, City had the ball in the net as Charlie Cox raced through on goal, but the substitute was marginally offside as he fired past Shane Bland.

Either way, despite plenty of nervy moments at the back for the Seasiders, it was enough to win the game for Whitby who booked their place in the Second Qualifying Round of the Emirates FA Cup.