Report by Julian Tyley
Whitley Bay ran out convincing 4-0 winners at Marske United and assistant manager Barry Rizza could hardly have been happier with the outcome. “Yes, a great performance, obviously four goals again and a clean sheet, so we couldn’t ask for much more than that, especially with a few injuries from Saturday. So a few new faces have come in tonight and the squad’s looking healthy. Alfie is an attack minded player. He’s somebody we’ve had an eye on since last season when he played against us. He’s a very good young lad, positive in the final third; and Liam Beeston has followed us for a few years so he knows exactly how we play.”
The great start with the early goal really set the tone for the game. “Exactly that, we always fancy ourselves to score goals but we’ve conceded quite a few, nine goals in the first three games so it was something we’d got to rectify and two clean sheets on the bounce is good to see.
He acknowledged the excellent scoring record, at least three in each of the first five league games but was keen to point out the need for clean sheets. “It is a great scoring record, but I did a little presentation with the lads the other day and told them it’s alright scoring those goals but we need to keep a clean sheet at the same time. If we’d carried on conceding at the rate we were, it would be very hard to make our goal for the season which is a minimum of the play offs.
New goalkeeper Mauro Asikaogu came in for praise from the assistant boss. “He’s got safe hands and you can rely on him. He’s pulled off a couple of amazing saves again tonight. He’s fitting in with the lads, he’s a good character, the lads love him, and you can rely on him. He’s very good!”
Defender Robbie Christie showed some of the confidence that is apparent in the side at the moment trying a long range shot which crashed off the post with the keeper beaten. “That’s it. Robbie didn’t start on Saturday but someone got an injury early on so he’s come in and shown great character and he was unbelievable tonight, aggressive from the start. That’s what the lads need, they need competition for places so nobody’s comfortable.”
