Despite Tuesday’s visitors, Salford City, pulling a goal back in the dying stages of the game Blyth Manager Tom Wade felt his side deserved the win.
“We warranted the three points over the full 90 minutes,” he said. “To be honest we should have had the game put to bed before they scored. It should have been done and dusted by half time. It has to be said though that Salford are a good side. They have pace, strength plus resources to die for. They won’t lose many games.
“We dominated although they did have spell in the second half, but you can expect at any level of the game. You just have to dig in and put your bodies on the line. We made a mistake for their goal. We didn’t defend well and but was the first time they opened us up. We’ll learn from it”.
Wade spoke of the impact of the BBC crew who were at the match to record for the documentary “Class of 92: Out of their League”.
“There was a lot going on before the game. There were differences around how we could prepare; possible distractions. Lee [Picton] and I had to protect the lads from the hype. We had a game to play, not the hype. We just sat nice and calm before kickoff discussing our strengths and the belief we have in ourselves. It paid off, we did well.”
Wade was pleased with new signing Wilson Kneeshaw’s home debut.
“It was great to see Wilson score the winner. He had an excellent game overall. He was always a threat and kept Salford’s two centre halves occupied. His has fast feet and a good touch plus his work rate was superb.”