Blyth Spartans had a lot to be thankful to goalkeeper Peter Jeffries for after the former Bishop Auckland man produced a wonderful penalty save to deny Workington and help them to a seventh consecutive win. The man himself admitted that his side hadn’t played to their full potential but felt that getting the three points was “all that matters to us”
“We weren’t at our best but we managed to dig in and at the end of the day the scrappy wins count as much as the wins when you dominate a game. It’s another three points in the bag, it’s another win in this run we are on and that’s all that matters to us”
And what of that penalty save that denied Workington striker Mathew Tymon from giving his side a deserved equaliser? Jeffries produced a fantastic stop for the second penalty save of the season, the first coming when he kept another clean sheet at Darlington in the First Round of the FA Cup.
The Spartans number one was uncertain whether the spot kick should have been given after referee Christopher Ellis spotted a pull on Reds skipper Dan Wordsworth by Nathan Buddle but felt that his save was more down to analysing Tymon’s run up than anything else.
“I don’t know if it was a penalty but once it’s given I just have to do my best to stop it. The way the lad ran up to the ball was a bit too straight and I just thought there was only one way he cold go really. I stood up as long as I could and guessed the right way”
Spartans now head to Whitby Town on Sunday for the second part of their Christmas double header and do so looking to make it an eight wins in a row for the first time since the 2005/06 treble winning season. Jeffries feels his side has a chance to do that given their confidence levels and challenged his team mates to carry on their good form.
“We are full of confidence with seven wins in a row and we go to Whitby looking to put in a better performance and get the three points we need to keep up moving up the table”