The Blues won 1-0 at the Giant Axe thanks to an early Marcus Giles strike.

Their opponents would also end the game with ten men after Niall Cowperthwaite received a straight red card midway through the first half.

The Seasiders took the lead when a ball over the top gave Jacob Hazel space to run into. He then saw the run of Giles alongside him and the young forward made the most of his opportunity, calmly rolling the ball into the bottom left-hand corner of Matthew Alexander’s goal.

The game as a whole wasn’t exactly filled with chances, however Whitby could have doubled their lead when Daniel Rowe, who scored on the opening day in the previous campaign, saw his header fly just over the bar following a corner from new loan signing, Josh MacDonald.

City were then reduced to ten with 28 minutes played when Priestley Griffiths got to the ball first before being wiped out by Cowperthwaite’s reckless challenge. Referee, Christopher Porter had no doubts about his decision to send the Lancaster midfielder for an early bath.

Lee Bullock and Nathan Haslam would have been pleased with how the first 45 minutes of the new season were going, but a crucial second goal was still missing, leaving them with some moments of concern.

Lewis Hawkins could have made things a little more comfortable had his long-range dipping effort nestled in the goal.

Fellow midfielder Griffiths also went close with a similar type of effort with 36 minutes gone.

The Lancaster threat was made apparent just before the break when Charlie Bailey brought the ball into the Town area but he fired over right on the stroke of half-time.

Some supporters may have expected the second half to be one-way traffic given the fact that Whitby had the numerical advantage, but Lancaster did have plenty of the ball with the final product letting them down on multiple occasions.

Whitby did have the first chance of the second period however with Liam Cooke seeing his effort deflected wide following a free-kick routine, before a minute later, with 53 minutes on the clock, David Norris fired wide for the home side.

It took until the 75th minute for the next meaningful chance and Whitby striker Hazel would have been frustrated that he didn’t do better when he broke into the box, only to hit a tame effort straight into the hands of Lancaster keeper Alexander.

Hazel then went close again moments later, this time seeing Alexander have to work harder to palm his effort away.

It looked as if Whitby would hold out for the win, but Lancaster would be given one last chance to equalise when Nathan Dyer conceded a free-kick right on the edge of the area deep into stoppage time.

Robert Wilson stepped up but Shane Bland was equal to it with what was his first meaningful save of the game. Town were able to clear and hold on for the three points on the opening day.