On the weekend when the country became full of petrol-heads supporting Lewis Hamilton it was quite fitting that it was Vauxhall Motors who travelled to take on the Spartans.
Hamilton’s weekend ended up in a gravel-trap and so, in a sense, did Blyth’s. The Motormen nudged the home side into football’s gravel-track – the potentially cloying relegation zone in the League. Once there some don’t emerge.

The question is – can Blyth banish Saturday’s gasoline alley blues as the road to Wembley beckons?

“We certainly need to,” commented the desolate Spartans Vice-Chairman Kevin Scott following the 2-0 defeat to Vauxhall.
“The FA Cup tie at Gainsborough next week is crucial both to the Club’s attempt to recover from our poor showings and to our finances. £5000 is available to the winners of the game and of course the chance to progress further with potentially more benefits.
“It was as much the way we lost to Vauxhall, in what was a six-pointer, which upset me” he said.
“There was no ‘Spartans spirit’, individual performances were poor and team play was missing. We need to get this sorted out as the next few League games will be vitally important for our season. We’ve some good players but they are under performing.
“Although our attendances are quite good in comparison to some other clubs in our position, we need to be playing much better to get the crowds in through the gate. Some key elements of our play must improve to make that happen and money is available to the Manager to do just that.”

Boss Harry Dunn recognises the need for fresh faces.
“We’re not going to sit on our backsides and do nothing about our performances and our League position” he said.
“In the Vauxhall game we were never at the races. I was very, very disappointed, we started poorly and got worse.
“The only good point was new signing Adrian Webster.”
The 27 year old full New Zealand international who played in Australia last year added quality and urgency to the Spartans midfield after coming on at halftime.

Dunn is hoping for another boost when young ex-Darlington striker Richard Logan’s international clearance comes through this week. Logan has been playing in Sweden and recording an impressive goals per game ratio.
“The difference between us and Vauxhall was the forwards,” Dunn suggested.
“Theirs gave us problems whereas ours did very little.”
Dunn explained that he left defender Richard Forster on the bench and went instead for a man for man marking system using captain Peter Snowdon and Gareth Williams at the back who he thought better suited to that style of play.

Looking ahead to the FA Cup tie at Gainsborough Dunn was expecting a hard game.
“They tonked us down there in the league so they will be confident and we’ll have to play a damn site better than we have been doing.”
He intends to give strikers Robbie Dale and Scott Bell more time to gain match fitness in a friendly during the week.
“It’s a Cup game and anything can happen,” he added.

Blyth need to use the game as an opportunity to get back on track.