Lee Clark has heaped praise on club legend Robbie Dale after his brace helped Blyth Spartans to a 2-1 win over Curzon Ashton on his 672nd appearance.
The 35-year-old rolled back the years with another Spartans rescue mission – striking twice in eight minutes to secure an invaluable three points in the context of the National League North table.
And assessing how big of a win it was for Spartans, Clark told blythspartans.com: “Obviously it is huge because of our situation in the table and it keeps a decent run going – three wins in our last six matches.
“I thought we were the dominant team against Curzon – we dealt with the conditions better and we were unlucky to go behind to an unfortunate goal.
“But the players in the last few weeks have shown some brilliant resilience and character, which they showed again.”
Dale’s double followed after a somewhat tactical masterstroke from the former Birmingham City manager.
Clark proceeded to field Dale in a lone striker position after bringing on winger Adam Wrightson in place of Michael Sweet.
“We made a little tweak when we made the substitution and pushed Robbie (Dale) through the middle and he has come up with the goods for us again,” Clark said.
“I wanted Wrighty and Callum (Roberts) to play off him from the wide areas and Mark Waddington – who was terrific getting forward from midfield.
“Robbie has great technical ability. He can hold the ball up, he can link play, he scores and makes goals – which is huge for an attacking player.
“The second goal, however, was a terrific move and a great finish from Robbie.
“It was the right thing to do and sometimes as a manager, you do that and it doesn’t pay off but yesterday it did and we got the all-important win.
“He got a little bit of luck with the first one but we’ll take that luck all day long. We will certainly take luck like that in the coming games from now to the end of the season.
“I’m delighted for the players and the supporters because it was a huge game and they all showed their commitment.”