Tom Wade, the Spartans manager, was pleased with the point his side picked up at Matlock Town on Saturday.
He said: “We’d have taken the draw before kick-off. I was happy with the way we played after the bit of a shock we got in the 3-0 defeat at Ashton earlier in the week. We battled hard at the weekend and I think a draw was a fair result.
“We had more chances than them but we need a bit more luck in front of goal, although working hard increases your chance of being lucky.”
The Spartans took the lead immediately before the break when Dan Hawkins timed his run beautifully to meet a smart through ball from Daniel Maguire.
“I thought Dan was the Man of the Match, “ said Wade. His finish was cool and he had a big influence in midfield. Nipa [Magiure] set it up well. He is finding it a bit difficult at the moment because teams are sussing him out. But he will continue to graft and I’m sure the spaces will open up, as the season goes on, for him to exploit. He’ll work on it and things will change.”
The Blyth boss was disappointed with the home side’s equaliser shortly after the restart when Matlock’s Danny Holland rose to head home.
He commented: “To be honest we didn’t deal with their two forwards very well but people should remember our centre backs are young and still learning. They are top, top players and we’ll work hard on the training ground with them and they will get though this patch and get even better. I’ve no doubt about it.”
Wade praised young Ryan Hutchinson who had only had minimal pre-season playing time.
“Ryan had an excellent first half, winning headers and tackles and looking decent on the ball as well. In the second half the level of the game caught up with him a bit. But he gives us another great option in the middle of the park.”
Bank Holiday Monday sees Whitby Town visit Croft Park and Spartans supporters can expect a few changes in their team’s line up.
Wade said: “We have a good squad which, thankfully, the Chairman has allowed us to put together. We can afford to keep certain players back for certain games so there may be changes on Monday. Not because some of the lads have been playing badly, just that we have quality like Paul Robinson, Ben Sayer, Chris Bell and Chris Moore, none of whom featured at Matlock, available.”