Speaking shortly after his side’s 2-1 victory at West Auckland on Friday night, Whitley Bay assistant manager Liam McIvor gave his thoughts on the game.
“It's definitely a good three points on a cold, horrible night in West Auckland.”
Whitley made the perfect start with the opening goal coming inside the fourth minute and McIvor revealed what had been discussed ahead of the game.
“It’s a brilliant three points that puts us right back in the mix. We’ve talked about getting off to a good start. We spoke a lot in the changing rooms about being a bit more positive and starting on the front foot. It was good to see, great play down the left and a great ball across for Josh which he put away. We’ve been getting a lot of joy from the full backs this season with assists and goals and the second goal was another assist by a full back and a great finish by Sparky.
“We didn’t look like conceding but after that we didn’t look like scoring either, and we took that into the second half. They probably had 90% of the play in the second half. It was an error for their goal. It shouldn’t have happened but it gave them a lifeline. But apart from that, even with having a lot of the ball they didn’t look like scoring and they didn’t create a great deal and as I say it was our individual error that gave them a goal.”
Whitley appeared content to sit on their lead in the second half, handing possession to the home side as Liam agreed.
“We’ve just been talking about it now. As a team we sat too deep and every time there was an outlet we gave the ball away too easily. Going forward that’s something we need to learn and quickly. But it’s a win and that’s the most important thing at this time of the season, it doesn’t matter how well you play, it’s about the three points.”
On hearing of a surprise defeat for leaders Newton Aycliffe he commented “it just makes the four horse race a lot closer.”
Elliott Day and Michael Hall who missed last week’s game were both back and both made an impact. “It was good to see two players back who’ve played nearly every game for us who’ve made a difference."
Recent signing Mark Davison scored his first goal for the club and provided an assist for the other one. McIvor was full of praise for the striker. “He’s an old fashioned centre forward, he doesn’t lose many headers. His hold up play is unbelievable and his goal today was a great finish. He put a great shift in for the team and that’s all we can ask.”
Photo: Richard Stephenson
