There’s plenty to celebrate for Spartans young striker Dan Maguire these days. The former Seaton Delaval front man collected his second consecutive Port of Blyth Player of the Month award pre-match and was collecting the awards post match too as he was voted Spartans Man of the Match for their 3-2 win over Worksop Town. Maguire’s constant work rate and commitment has made the eighteen year old a firm favourite with the Green Army and he insists that the feeling is very much a mutual one for him.
He revealed “They’re very important for us and they have to know that. It means a lot to get a reception from the fans like that. They’re great fans, loud and always there for us so we want to get a good end to the season to reward them for being committed and for being there for us throughout the season because it’s not been an easy one for them.”
A remarkable game saw Spartans gain revenge over the Tigers for the 8-1 mauling they inflicted on Spartans in October. Spartans were given three spot kicks during the win today, missing two and scoring one with Craig Hubbard finally converting with five minutes left to set up the win and the experience of three spot kicks was something new to Maguire.
He revealed “Missing two out of the three penalties was rather unusual wasn’t it but we got the win and that’s all that matters. I don’t think I’ve ever played in a game where my team have been awarded three penalties to be honest. It was bizarre but Craig Hubbard took his penalty really well and it’s great to finally get a win.”
After being brought to Spartans by Tommy Cassidy in September Maguire had to wait until December for his first start for the club in the 1-2 defeat at home to FC United of Manchester, by which time Paddy Atkinson was in the Croft Park hotseat. Since then he has made himself a regular feature of the squad and is now working under his third Spartans manager with the announcement coming this week that Tom Wade had been giving the managerial role going into next season. However Maguire revealed that he just wants to keep working hard to ensure he keeps his place in the lineup.
He said “It’s great to be playing right now and I know I had to wait for my chance but I know I have to just keep going and giving my all for Tom and the team. We have to build on today’s win and we have a lot of games coming up before the end of the season but that gives us a chance to get a good run together.”
“They’re very important for us and they have to know that. It means a lot to get a reception from the fans like that. They’re great fans, loud and always there for us so we want to get a good end to the season to reward them.”