The Seasiders were backed by a sizeable away following and despite making a disastrous start, conceding after just 24 seconds, responded well to pick up three points with a hefty triumph on the road.

It was a comfortable afternoon's work for Gary Liddle's side, who gained revenge for their 5-0 loss in the corresponding fixture last season. There were four different scores for Town in a performance which really saw the attackers link-up well.

Further Whitby positives came in the form of Lewis Hawkins returning to the starting eleven following his injury picked up in August's reverse at FC United of Manchester, while Shane Bland joined David Campbell in second on the list of all-time Whitby Town appearance makers.

Ashton took the lead when, following a loss of possession from Sam Collins, Alex Byrne's cross from the right was met at the front post by Mikey O'Neill, who slotted home.

The Robins had their tails up early on, with Luca Navarro beating Bland with a dipping shot, but he struck the crossbar too in the eighth minute.

After Jake Charles sent a tame effort into the hands of Jordan Eastham, Hawkins then sent a pile driver over the bar from distance with 21 minutes played.

Jason Gilchrist then saw a right-footed strike blocked by the legs of Bland after he raced into the box, then Eastham was called into action by Layton Watts in an end-to-end encounter.

A clever piece of play inside the box from Watts drew another save from Eastham before Charles was unable to follow in on the rebound.

In the 33rd minute, Charles equalised for Whitby against one of his former clubs. A routine pass back to Eastham was misjudged, allowing Charles to capitalise and slot into an empty net.

And Town never really looked back once Connor Smith have them the lead in the 38th minute. James Harrison teed him up with a low drilled ball across the face of goal which the hosts struggled to deal with, and right-back Smith calmly slotted beyond Eastham for his second goal of the season.

Town continued to push in the second period, with Watts shooting off target from a Charles lay-off.

But Town made it three in the 61st minute with Watts on target. It was a fine finish from the former Redcar Athletic man who lashed into the bottom corner after a neat back-heeled lay-off from Charles.

The visitors had another opening when Donald Chimalilo curled a shot towards goal before Eastham saved well, tipping the Zambian's attempt away from danger.

However, the Seasiders did net a fourth goal with Harrison scoring his first Whitby goal from close range after Eastham spilt the ball right onto the boot of the young winger.

Daniel Ogwuru was thwarted by a strong block from Frankie Whelan in the Whitby defence then, in the 82nd minute, Darius Osei headed off target.

It was evident that the Whitby backline were taking pride in not conceding any consolation goals late on with the centre-back pairing of Whelan and Nathan McGinley standing firm to secure a first win since early September for Liddle's men.