After seeing his side deservedly win 4-2 at Stafford Rangers, winger Robbie Dale revealed his determination to see end the season on a high to give them the best possible chance of improving next season. It’s been an up and down season for Spartans and they look set to finish just below mid-table in the Evo-Stik Northern Premier League but Dale feels that a strong finish to the season can help them kick on next time out.
He said “We have to finish well, the last thing we want is to go into the end of the season on a few losses. What you want is to go into the summer on a good run and thinking we can’t wait to get started again and come in for pre-season on a bit of a high. Things have been more professional with Tom and John and they let us know what they expect. They rightly hammered us at half time and we reacted to that. There is something for them to build on here.”
With his goal against Rangers, Dale became Spartans top goalscorer for the season with nine goals and is now one ahead of Joe Kendrick. He insisted that whilst it is nice to be top scorer he was more pleased to see the goals being shared around the side.
He said “It would be nice to get to double figures and to be fair we are getting a few lads up towards double figures. It’s nice to see us sharing the goals around and everyone is pitching in. We aren’t just relying on one person.”
It was a real team performance by Spartans with several excellent individual performances as they won in Staffordshire but Dale was quick to praise returning front man Andy Jennings. The giant striker returned to the start lineup for the first time in several weeks and turned in an outstanding performance proving to be the catalyst for an impressive Spartans win and Dale was delighted to see Jennings get the plaudits.
He said “It’s nice to win away because let’s be honest we don’t do it very often do we?. I thought Andy Jennings was outstanding and because of him playing that well up top it meant we could play higher up the pitch and get our attacking players in dangerous areas. He made a real difference today. It was a surprise to see him start because he hasn’t started recently but it proved to be a great decision. He was tremendous and he worked well with Dan Maguire, he deserved a goal for his performance.”