Report by Julian Tyley
Obviously disappointed after seeing his side suffer their first home league defeat of the season, Whitley Bay assistant manager Barry Rizza was making no excuses for the first half performance which saw them 2-0 down at half time against Boro Rangers.
“It was a game of two halves really. First half we were nowhere near our standard. We were second to the first ball, second to the second ball and we were punished three times in the same way.
"I’m not going to make any excuses. It is what it is, it’s a squad game, nothing’s a ‘gimme’ in this league, there are no easy games. If you don’t show and you give a team a 3-0 head start then you’re going to make it difficult for yourselves. I’m not going to go into what was said but the lads take responsibility and luckily enough we’ve got a game quickly coming round on Tuesday. Hopefully we can put what was wrong today right on Tuesday. (a Northumberland Senior Cup tie against West Allotment Celtic)
“It’s 100% good to have a game quickly after a defeat. We’ll look at the Veo,(video footage of the game) evaluate what ‘s gone wrong and try and put it right as quickly as we can.”
Giving credit to the Teesside team, he added “To be fair, my man of the match was their keeper. He’s had three or four one on ones that he’s kept out. So that’s a good amount of chances that we’re creating. We’ve just got to score from them.
“It’s the same as Mauro, he’s pulled some great saves off as well, but as I say, we cannot be second to the first ball and the second ball for 45 minutes.”
A bumper crowd of 533 fans were in attendance on a fine and sunny autumn afternoon. “That’s a great crowd, I can only apologise for the first 45 minutes and hope they enjoyed the second 45. It’s great to see the support!”
Looking ahead to a week with two cup ties at Hillheads, the Senior Cup game followed on Saturday by the Isuzu FA Vase 1st Round tie against Humberside team Barton Town, Barry commented “They’re two big cup games and hopefully we get a few players back in again. It will depend on how they’re getting on. I would expect Josh possibly to be back but we’ll have to see. I’m sure other teams are the same. You’re not going to get the same eleven out week in week out and that’s why we’ve got the squad.”
**With another big crowd anticipated for Saturday’s FA Vase game, the Club is urging fans to arrive earlier than usual in order to reduce the queues at the turnstiles which will be open from 1.30pm. Kick off is at 3pm and if the scores are level after 90 minutes the game will go straight to penalties.
