Spittal
Rovers 1 Rothbury 2
Northern
Football Alliance
Team Valley
Carpets Division Two
Unlucky
Euan Sherry suffered an awful heart-in-the-mouth moment and could only grimace
as he sliced a clearance that looped over the keeper into his own net to hand
Rothbury the three points that took them back to the top of Division Two.
The
Coquetdalers won ugly in a game that that saw them also put through their own
goal and Rovers reduced to ten-men through a late red card that saw Sherry
walk.
But it was
exactly that ability to roll up the sleeves and battle when teams are applying
the pressure and disrupting Rothbury’s normal passing game that pleased boss
Dan Herron.
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| Pic by Graeme Burn, Spittal Rovers FC. |
“It was impressive for us to win when playing so poorly, especially
given Spittal thought they had played so well. It was great to win in second gear
so to speak, very much a case of job done. The conditions made it difficult for
playing out from the back too, mind,” he said.
The hosts
went ahead inside 11 minutes as Kyle Jeffrey’s low driven cross into a packed
six-yard box was deflected into the Rothbury net by lunging captain Tom
Macpherson.
The Reds
hit back to level 11 minutes later as Gareth McCann ran on to coolly lob a
bouncing ball over advancing Rovers number one Michael Beveridge.
Top scorer
Dan Thompson found chances at a premium but his hold up play and all-round work-rate
saw him a constant menace for the Rovers defence while James Jackson continued
to try and move the ball around the park despite the difficult conditions and
impressed the manager with his performance.
“It’s massive for our character to keep
churning the results out. We’d love the performances to go with them, but ultimately
it’s the win that matters,” admitted Herron.
“I thought James ‘Mins’ Jackson was our
best player on the day - he did well to keep passing despite the muddy pitch.
The lads were buzzing from the result, to be fair, but we’re just taking it
game by game for now.”
Rothbury are two points ahead of Whitley
Bay SC and have two games in hand, while third-placed Cramlington United trail
by seven points and have also played two games more. But Herron was keen to stress
that the club are very much still taking things one game at a time and are
determined not to get carried away by their position with 12 games remaining.
“Tom (Macpherson) and myself were saying
we’ll start to look and think about winning it if we’re in the same position
after 23/24 games. But for now we won’t get ahead of ourselves,” he stressed.
After Sherry
had found the back of his own net in the 73rd minute, midfield
playmaker Tony Brown almost added a third when his beautifully struck 25-yard
free kick came back off the crossbar.
His
midfield partner Jackson admitted that the match itself wasn’t the best in
terms of quality and felt that the experience in the side helped to secure the
victory.
“The game wasn’t a good one for the spectator, I’m sure, but that’s part
of football - especially at the level we are playing at,” he said.
“We battled hard and to be honest they were
up for it more than us - we needed to calm down and play our football. I felt Tom Mac
was our man of the match as he defended the fort well and calmed the players
down. As we were getting frustrated we were getting on each other’s backs;
arguing and bitching don’t win you titles, but I can tell you what does - persistence.
The last three or four games we haven’t been at our best, apart from the Uni
game, but we have came out of it sitting at the top of the league.”
Jackson was delighted to take the points on
what is like home turf to himself as his family hail from just up the road at
Eyemouth.
“On a personal note that win was excellent
for me, although we didn’t do ourselves any favours. Spittal have a good set
up, and straight after the whistle went the battle was left on the pitch and
they will maybe feel hard done with not coming away with anything,” he admitted,
while also wishing the Seasiders the best for the rest of the season and
praising their bait as ‘exceptional.’
He also heaped praise on striker Gareth
McCann for grabbing his third goal in two games.
“Gar is on fire at the minute and I have to
say something about his goal because it was such an intelligent finish from a
lad who, well, isn’t the brightest at times,” he laughed, displaying the
togetherness and banter of the Red’s dressing room.
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