“It was always going to be an uphill battle against a good side, and despite losing I really enjoyed the afternoon,” commented an upbeat Spartans Manager Harry Dunn following his side’s 1-0 defeat at Kettering Town on Saturday.

“Kettering are a full time set-up and bearing in mind the long bus journey to Northamptonshire my lads, who have been at work all week, were always going to be up against it. Nevertheless I thought they defended heroically with goalkeeper Adam Bartlett brilliant again and Richard Forster immense at centre-back” said Dunn.

Bartlett will be in the England C squad for a game in Finland next week and Dunn’s
sentiments about the player were echoed after the game by the home boss Mark Cooper. “Their goalkeeper was fantastic and that’s why he’s in the England squad. Fair play to the lad, he did really well today” he commented. Cooper had said to Harry Dunn before kick-off that the League is much more difficult this year when three points cannot be guaranteed against any opposition. Nevertheless, on Saturday, despite some spirited Spartans resistance his side could have scored a hatful.

“We were lucky to get away with only a 1-0 score but it’s not our fault they missed their chances!” said Dunn. “Yes, they gave us a hard time and our midfield didn’t keep possession well enough and maybe could have been better at threading the ball through to the forwards but we did as much as we could do. “I did think, though, that we were hampered after the first 15 minutes when the referee needlessly booked three of our players – which effectively nullified them thereafter. I’m not twisting on but their lads got up after the fouls and ran off not even limping!”

Losing strikers Phil Bell and Richard Logan did nothing to help the Blyth cause either. Logan took a knock after 10 minutes and struggled through to half time before being substituted and Phil Bell picked up a calf injury in the second period which could rule him out for this weekend’s game at home to Redditch and next week’s Setanta Shield game at Harrogate Town. “ Clearly this restricted our attacking options but we battled on and I was really pleased by how we didn’t fold under the constant pressure,” said Dunn “Our effort and determination were terrific”

Application and resolve can only achieve so much however as Dunn pointed out.
“It’s not a level playing field with some clubs being full-time. Kettering have just made a bid of £20,000 for Droylsden striker Terry Fearns whereas we stretched to a small fraction of that to bring in Phil Bell from Newcastle Blue Star. That is what we’re up against – megabucks and players benefiting from full-time training.

“Look at it another way Kettering are able to sign Jean-Paul Marna from Paris Saint Germain while we turn to Jarrow Roofing to strengthen our side” he quipped.

Dunn doesn’t see Saturday’s important League fixture with Redditch as a ‘six-pointer’. “It’s still only the beginning of November – there’s a long way to go yet.”

Forward Andy Johnson will be unavailable for the next two matches and Dunn has lined up former Barrow and Stalybridge keeper Simon Bishop to cover for Bartlett against Harrogate.