The visitors started in confident fashion and knocked the ball around well during the opening minutes, before Moors settled into the encounter and began to dictate possession.
Matty Dolan knocked a cross in from the left, which was glanced wide by Isaac Fletcher, while another good move down the left saw Reece Staunton deliver for Rob Ramshaw but the midfielder’s header dropped just too high.
Graeme Lee’s men were getting some joy down the left flank and another inviting cross from Staunton this time found Junior Mondal but the former Whitby man saw his effort flash wide.
The Seasiders responded with a good chance of their own when Connor Smith set Nathan Thomas away down the right and his dangerous cross was headed just wide of the far post by Jake Charles.
Whitby keeper Bland made a brilliant double save to keep Moors out when he first parried away Mondal’s low drive before springing to his feet to block Will Harris’ follow-up too.
However, he was helpless to prevent Harris opening the scoring in first half injury time when another Staunton delivery from the left was swept home from close range by the front man.
Whitby came out quickly in the second half and were back on level terms within a minute. Jake Charles drove into space on the right and shot low on goal and although Brad James pushed it away, Thomas slid into score from the rebound.
The second half became a bit of a scrappy affair, punctuated by a series of substitutions and stoppages which didn’t help the flow of the game.
However, Moors had a couple of opportunities to steal a victory in the closing stages – firstly when Jass Sukar almost diverted the ball past his own keeper but Bland clawed his goalbound header away.
Fletcher then blazed a powerful strike just over from inside the area after some brilliant work by the ever-industrious Rob Ramshaw down the right flank.
Full Time: Moors 1 Whitby Town 1
Moors: James, Ledger, Trialist, Beals, Staunton, Ross, Dolan, Mondal (Howard 74), Ramshaw, Fletcher, Harris (McKeown 63).
Subs not used: Johnson, Myers, Atkinson, Dodds.
Whitby Town: Bland, Smith (Wheatley 46), Sukar, Liddle, Whelan (Trialist 63), Griffiths (Fergus 66), Hawkins, Docherty, Walker (Haswell 46), Charles, Thomas (Parkinson 74).
Subs not used: Jackson, Medcalf, Marsay, Cranston.
Referee: Seb Stockbridge
Attendance: 426
