The hosts made a fast start and took the lead inside five minutes through Ethan Kershaw, who reacted quickest to fire home the rebound after Henry Popple had saved the initial free-kick.

Whitby looked to respond immediately, with James Dillon nodding the ball into the path of Callum Hickman, whose low effort was deflected behind. From the resulting corner, Marley Grant was unable to keep his effort down, prodding over the crossbar.

Popple was then called into action again on 12 minutes, producing an acrobatic save to keep out a long-range effort from Avro.

Hickman had an opportunity to bring Whitby level six minutes later when the ball fell kindly to him on the edge of the area, but his first-time strike sailed over the crossbar.

Avro continued to threaten, with James Simms firing a low effort narrowly wide before the hosts doubled their advantage on 23 minutes. Harry Salt was the scorer, guiding a floating delivery into the box towards the far bottom corner to make it 2-0.

The task became even tougher for Whitby just before half-time when Salt grabbed his second of the night. The Avro forward drove towards the Whitby defence before seeing his effort take a wicked deflection and find the back of the net.

The Seasiders looked to find a response before the break, and Ben Beals saw a long-range effort take a deflection and fly narrowly wide. However, Avro went into the interval with a commanding three-goal advantage.

Whitby showed greater attacking intent after the restart and almost found a way back into the contest on 52 minutes. Daniel James' free-kick was flicked towards goal by Hickman, but his effort found the side netting.

The visitors' persistence was rewarded four minutes later with a superb strike from Stuart Rose. Picking his moment from distance, Rose produced a wonderful drilled effort which flew beyond Jon Robinson to give Whitby a lifeline.

The Blues were suddenly looking much more dangerous and came agonisingly close to reducing the deficit further on 64 minutes. Hickman spotted Robinson off his line and attempted a clever lob, only to see the ball clip the crossbar with the Avro goalkeeper beaten.

Hickman continued to cause problems, this time lifting a ball forward into the path of the advancing Grant. Grant got his effort away but could only find the hands of Robinson.

At the other end, Popple remained alert to keep Whitby in the contest, tipping Taylor Dyson's low strike around the post on 80 minutes.

Despite a much-improved second-half display and some promising attacking moments, Whitby were unable to find another goal as Avro saw the game out to secure all three points.

Rose's excellent strike provided a highlight for the visitors, but Avro's first-half finishing ultimately proved decisive.