After seeing Blyth Spartans pegged back by a controversial late penalty against Rushall Olympic, striker Dan Maguire was “disappointed” with his side’s inability to kill off the game.
It was Maguire who gave his side the lead in the twelfth minute and despite the visitors getting back on level terms, a brace from Michael Richardson seemed to have got Spartans back on track with half time approaching. However Aaron Williams got his side back in the game with his second goal and cut their deficit at the interval.
Spartans created chances to kill off the game in the second half but were left to rue a late penalty decision as Pics captain Gavin Caines sealed a point for his side. That left Maguire to reflected on a result that sees Spartans slip back in the play off chase.
“We should have killed it off and it is disappointing that we didn’t do that. Not just with chances but by running the clock down well, we kept going forward and trying to create chances but we didn’t kill it off but we will learn from it and move on from this”
And what of the penalty? Maguire admitted that he didn’t think it was a spot kick but did feel that his side shouldn’t have put themselves into a position to allow the referee to award the kick.
“From where I was it looked a good challenge but at that point in the game we shouldn’t have to do that and we shouldn’t give the referee the chance to give that decision. I think that is the most disappointing thing about it because we deserved all three points”
The draw was an underwhelming start to a busy week for Maguire and his team mates. Tuesday night sees Barwell make the long trip to Croft Park before Spartans travel to Ramsbottom United forty eight hours later. A busy seven days is rounded off with Stourbridge making the journey to Northumberland on Saturday.
That hectic schedule has led to some insisting that tiredness will play a factor in Spartans performances but Maguire revealed he is more than willing to play every game.
“I hate watching football from the sidelines and I don’t want to do it. I want to play each and every minute of every game and this week is no different. It will be tough but I am ready to do it and more than anything I want to do it”