SCARBOROUGH'S 3-1 FA Cup qualifying defeat at Whitby Town could be a defining moment in Scarborough's history.

The reward for reaching the first round proper of the FA Cup this season is £20,000 and it is no secret that Boro were depending on that cash to ease their considerable financial problems.

The unhappy Scarborough faces at the end of the game, in which Whitby were clearly the better side, told of much heartache to come in the next week or so.

The players had received bouncing cheques earlier in the season and they must be worried about their futures as pay day approaches.

However, the players themselves must shoulder a lot of the blame for the position they find themselves in.

In Jason Blunt, Gareth Stoker and Shaun Elliott, Scarborough fielded a midfield which saw two players with experience of the game at a high level and yet it was in this area that Boro were simply overrun.

"I have to say I am very disappointed at the showing of the midfield players," said manager Ian Kerr.

"Too often, players ran through unopposed and we didn't get anything going in the game until it was far too late."

The kick-off was delayed for 15 minutes to ensure that spectators missed none of the action and after only nine minutes, Darryn Stamp headed in a Blunt cross and the foundation for a comfortable afternoon was in place.

But Lee Ure and Ian Williams took a grip of the game for Whitby and within six minutes, Williams had equalised after Ure had exposed the defensive frailties of Romain Faure.

When Ure repeated the feat just after the break to score himself, Scarborough were in deep trouble - and yet it took until the 85th minute before they created any threat.

But for the superb handling of goalkeeper Andy Woods, who had made two splendid saves in the first half, Whitby could well have increased their lead.

However, after a rash of substitutions, Kerr's side eventually put some pressure on the home defence and teenager Peter Fitzsimmons made a terrible hash of trying to hit the target when he was only eight yards from goal.

There were nine minutes of added time and deep into this period, Shaun Rennison saw his powerful header turned away by Phil Naisbett - the only save he had to make all afternoon.

From the corner, which saw Woods in the Whitby penalty area, a long clearance left Jamie Burt alone with Mark Swales and the former Scarborough striker ran 50 yards to slot home the third goal.

Whitby's manager Harry Dunn was full of praise for his defence for their efforts in keeping the Scarborough players away from goal, but as he settled back to prepare for the visit of Plymouth Argyle in the first round proper, he found time to commiserate with Kerr.

"Naturally I am delighted with the win and the performance, but I feel for Ian Kerr and the Scarborough club with the problems they have at the moment - I really hope that they can find a way out of their troubles."

Those sentiments will no doubt be repeated many times on the east coast in the coming days, but from the body language of the Scarborough officials after the game, it seems few are confident that the problems can be overcome.

Whitby Town: Naisbett, G Williams, Goodchild, Dixon, Rennison, Logan, Dunning, Veart, I Williams (Burt 65); Ure (Anderson 81) Robinson

Scarborough: Woods, Atkinson (O'Riordan 58), Faure, Jones, Rennison, Pounder, Blunt, Elliott, Stoker (Fitzsimmons 68); Windross (Swales 58), Stamp

Attendance: 1,862

Referee: N Bannister (Goole).

Updated: 12:36 Monday, October 29, 2001