A defeat is never easy to take but after seeing his side go down 2-3 to league leaders North Ferriby United, Spartans assistant manager Tom Wade insisted there were a number of big pluses to take from the game. Two Ryan McGorrigan goals weren’t enough to get reward from a battling performance from Spartans as they pushed the Villagers all the way coming close to a deserved equaliser in the last five minutes on three separate occasions. Wade refused to criticise his players after the effort they had put in during the game. He said “It’s disappointing, we should have got something from the game. We have worked hard enough and battled well but we maybe just lacked that little bit of extra quality. They were very organised and they stick to it well, it works for them but we have tested them today”.
However Wade did feel that the performance is a sign that progress is being made and feels there is one key barrier Spartans need to overcome as they look to climb the table over the coming weeks. “I think we are getting a squad together now and have eighteen or nineteen good players but what we need is some consistency in the lineup. For one reason or another we are always chopping and changing but we need to be able to get the same team out on a regular basis. The changes we are making is meaning we can’t get any stability in the way we play and the lineup we have but we will get there.”
After coming off the bench to inspire Spartans to overturn a 0-2 deficit at home to Whitby Town on Boxing Day, striker Ryan McGorrigan was given the nod to partner Andy Jennings up front and rewarded Paddy Atkinson and Wade by scoring twice at the Rapid Solicitors Stadium. Wade was quick to praise the former Newcastle United academy product for his performance on the day and since he came to Spartans. He said “Ryan is a goalscorer, simple as that. He does need to work on his overall game but you can’t knock him for what he has done. He just needs some little tweaks but the lad is top drawer and we are delighted to have him on board.”.