However, the game will best be remembered as the occasion when Lee Kerr joined the elite group of Whitley Bay players to have scored 100 goals for the club.

He is the sixth Bay player to achieve this feat and at 20 years of age will go down in the record books as being by far the youngest to reach this notable landmark.

Only a small number of Bay fans made the long journey down to North Yorkshire on an evening of persistent heavy showers but their efforts were rewarded by seeing this piece of history being made.

This was never going to be an easy game for Whitley, coming after two successive defeats and with Northallerton battling for points to guarantee their first division status next season.

However, it was Whitley who started the brighter and Kerr showed his intent as early as the third minute when he forced Michael Thackeray in the home goal to push a shot behind for a corner.

The opening goal came after 11 minutes when Paul Chow drilled the ball home after good work from Kerr.

At this stage Whitley looked in control but a defensive lapse after 25 minutes allowed the home side back into the game.

The ball was crossed from the left and Daniel Earl comfortably beat stand in keeper Rob McLean to level the score.

Within two minutes, Whitley had restored their lead and it came when Kerr received the ball on the edge of the penalty area, beat one man and fired a shot past the keeper from ten yards.

The celebrations that followed may have taken the home team and supporters by surprise but the Whitley players and fans certainly enjoyed the moment.

Whitley again seemed to be comfortably in control of the game and but for a great save by Thackeray, diving full length to push away a low header from Chow, they would have been two goals ahead after 39 minutes.

As it was, another slip up in defence by Whitley let in Josh DeSilva who gave McLean no chance from close range.

With the rain now falling heavily, the sides went in all square at the interval with everything still to play for.

Five minutes into the second half, Kerr played the ball through to Chow who controlled it well in the difficult conditions before shaking off a defender and beating Thackeray with a low shot into the bottom corner of the net.

Back in front for a third time, Whitley added an extra dimension to their attack with the introduction of winger Chris Moore.

He soon made an impact with his pace down the right flank and a well placed cross presented Chow with an excellent chance to complete his hat trick but the tall striker scuffed his shot and the ball drifted wide of goal.

Both sides deserved credit by battling away in the increasingly difficult conditions and Whitley had several opportunities to wrap the game up, mostly prompted by Moore who might himself have scored but seemingly caught in two minds he neither passed to Chow nor tested the keeper when well placed and the ball skidded wide of the far post.

The Yorkshiremen kept plugging away and caused a few anxious moments for Whitley but with Mark Taylor back in the side following illness and captain on the night Damon Robson giving his usual assured performance in the centre of midfield, Whitley soaked up the pressure well.

In the last minute of normal time, Kerr looked sure to seal the victory with a powerful shot from close range but Thackeray again made a great save, pushing the ball wide.

Then in stoppage time, McLean, who had given a good account of himself, appeared to lose sight of a high ball and only a goal line clearance by Brian Smith prevented an equaliser.

In the end Whitley will be happy to have taken the points but more performances like this one by Northallerton should see them safely clear of the relegation zone by the end of the season.

Whitley Bay: McLean, Taylor, Picton (Minto 70 mins), Rowe, Smith, Woodhouse, Livermore (Moore 55 mins), Robson, Kerr, Chow, Robinson (Dugdale 79 mins).