A 21st birthday and the key to the door – that’s what awaits Blyth Spartans’ home debutant Andy Johnson following his Croft Park appearance on Saturday.

The former Brandon and Jarrow Roofing forward’s volleyed finish to see off visitors Leigh RMI at the weekend comes in advance of his landmark anniversary this Friday. He also has the opportunity to continue his rise through the non-league ranks and playing in Blue Square Premier may open the door to even higher levels of the game. As Blyth boss Harry Dunn said, “He’s one for the future”.
But for now Johnson remains in awe of where he finds himself.

“Coming on to play in a live TV game at Stalybridge on Thursday was great” he said.
“And scoring in my first game at Croft Park was better still.
“The crack here at Blyth is brilliant and the football is different too. There’s a lot less just kicking it up front and much more trying to pass the ball and play it on the ground”.

Dunn was pleased for other players who were making their first Croft Park appearance.
“Striker Phil Bell did well and was a bit unlucky not to score but we know he’s a good player who can do a job for us in either penalty box” he commented. “Man of the Match New Zealander Adrian Webster was excellent at Stalybridge in the Setanta Shield game last week and followed that performance up with another on Saturday in what was his first home start. He has added the quality to our midfield which I’ve been looking for. Richard Logan, a winger who has been playing in Sweden, will drift in and out of the game given his position but did well while young Johnson took his goal coolly.”

Dunn also praised central defender Richard Forster for outstanding performances of late and was delighted for Robbie Dale whose goal against Leigh ended a barren spell and whose partnership with Phil Bell up front appeared as if it could blossom.
“The whole team effort was very pleasing,” he said. “I was a bit worried that that we might be tired after the Stalybridge game for which we set off at 2.30pm on Thursday and returned at 3.00am on the Friday morning! But we dictated the game and are certainly looking a lot better than we were earlier in the season.”

The Blyth Manager was pleased that this Tuesday’s scheduled home match with Barrow has been postponed due to the Cumbrians’ FA Cup replay against Farsley Celtic.
“It’ll give us a bit of a rest before Saturday’s game at Kettering. It will be interesting to see how we perform down there against one of the favourites for promotion. I was very happy with our defending at Stalybridge and I expect that we will need to be equally as efficient at Kettering.”

Blyth’s Andrew Johnson will have had his birthday by the time of the game and will be hoping to continue his celebrations in Northamptonshire following what is likely to be, given the nature of last season’s fixture, a lively contest in front of a highly partisan home crowd.