Whitley Bay
SC 2 Rothbury 3
Team Valley
Carpets Division Two
Michael Old
bagged a brace as Rothbury stretched their sensational winning run to nine
games and went five points clear at the top of Division Two.
His strike
partner Daniel Thompson chalked up the other as the Reds weathered Storm Callum
at Valley Gardens and inflicted a first home defeat of the season on a Whitley
Bay SC side that were hot on their heels at kick-off.
The success
not only extended Rothbury’s lead at the top, but also gave them some breathing
space as their next two fixtures are both Cup ties – against Premier Division
Newcastle Chemfica in the League Cup this weekend, and Jesmond in the Amateur
Cup quarter finals the week after.
The Bay
defenders must be sick of the sight of Old as he rattled in a hat-trick against
them at Armstrong Park in the previous round, and the experienced striker had
his shooting boots on again as the keeper stooped to pick the ball out of the
net from him twice.
But the
Hillmen had to do it the hard way as they fought back from 2-0 down with goals
from Thomas Atkinson and Arron Moulding either side of the break putting Bay in
the driving seat.
Joint-player
boss Dan Herron was delighted with the battling display and felt the side had
shown real character to dig in for the three points.
“The pitch
was dead bobbly, the wind was horrendous and it felt like the ball was out of
play more than it was in,” he said.
“We had a
whole host of chances in the first half - hitting the post through Tony Brown
and their keeper making two or three top saves, not to mention the last ditch
blocks from their defence too.”
“The lads
were understandably deflated to concede just before half time, against the run
of play – mind, their winger took the goal well. In the second half we came out
of the blocks well and began to carve more chances, but were sucker-punched by a
free kick goal which was well-hit. We were so unlucky to be 2-0 down,” Herron
continued.
Rothbury
made changes soon after, bringing on big Gareth McCann and switching to a more
attacking formation, and it paid dividends as Old sparked the fight-back when
he fired home before the in-form Thompson shook the rainwater off the roof of
the netting as he slotted the leveller into the bottom corner.
“The spirit
shown by the whole squad to have a lift and take the lead after being two down
is not to be underestimated - it really shows the character of the lads which
is a great relationship both on and off the field. It looks like coming back
from behind is bread and butter for us now, but I definitely don’t want us to
make a habit of it. All in all, we felt it was a quality fight-back in
atrocious conditions to get the job done. And it’s amazing to be five points clear
after a third of the season - the stuff of dreams,” admitted Herron.
Old grabbed
the winner when he glanced in a header from a corner and said modestly
afterwards: “With the amount of corners we won into
double figures, one was sure to go in.”
Comments
Post a Comment