They say walls have ears. Well if the dressing room walls at Gloucester City’s Whaddon Road Stadium actually are blessed with the sense of sound then they are likely still to be ringing well into this week.
“The Gloucester manager David Mehew really fire up his side at half time, with us 2-0 ahead – we could hear it clearly in our own changing room,” commented Blyth boss Mick Tait. “The walls were shaking!,” he added.
Saturday’s Blue Square Bet North fixture, which finished with Blyth winning 2-1, was characterised by a stunning first half display by the visitors.
“Our victory was thoroughly deserved,” said Tait. “We played as well as we have done for a long time and should really have had the game wrapped up by half time. Chris Swailes did ever so well to lose his marker and get on to the end of a great free kick delivery by Stephen Turnbull to put us one up and then Turnbull put us further ahead showing good control before smashing the ball into the net. But we had chances after that and John Alexander could have done better when he was put through by Nicky Deverdics but chose to try and side foot the ball home instead of volleying,
“With more clinical finishing we could have had a hatful.”
Although the changing room walls took a hammering at the interval the verbal bashing delivered failed to result in any real threat to the foundations of Blyth’s lead.
“Admittedly we had to rely on our defending after the restart,” said Tait. “We played a little too deep but we dealt with their more attacking play magnificently, defending from front to back.”
Tait was furious with the penalty decision from which Gloucester pulled a goal back.
“It was a clear dive and I said to the referee after the game that I thought he’d done well but that particular decision was poor. The goal coming from it put us under even more pressure.”
Tait then had his own decision to make when three of his players went over on their ankles. Alexander, Liam O’Mahoney and Danny Groves were all suffering with Alexander being the one replaced – by Robbie Dale.
All three are expected to be fit for this Saturday’s FA Trophy game against Stafford Rangers at Croft Park, although Michael Tait continues to struggle with a virus.
Tait said, “Obviously I’m hoping for a good run in the competition, especially after the disappointment of our FA Cup exit at Vauxhall. I hope a good crowd will get behind us as we look to transfer our excellent League form into the Trophy.”