16th April 2004 - Harry - post Gateshead/Radcliffe

The Blyth Manager Harry Dunn was “bitterly disappointed” with the Spartans mid-week defeat at Ossett but his spirits were revived with two consecutive Easter wins.

The 2-1 victory over Gateshead on a rock hard pitch resulted in several of the Blyth players carrying bad grass burn injuries in to the Radcliffe Borough game. But it didn’t deflect Blyth’s charge for promotion with the green and whites securing another three points.

Dunn commented “We could have had the Radcliffe game wrapped up in the first 20 minutes but we looked fresher than they did and deserved our win. I was really pleased with the way the players went about it especially with the number of games which we have to cope with in such a short space of time. “Jamie McClen was excellent for us and stand-in keeper Ian Archibald again did well.”
Striker Scott Bell was named the Drager Man of the Match for what the adjudicator described as his strength of character in “not hiding” despite some early missed chances, and his through ball late on for the winning goal.

The Blyth boss is now openly looking to win the League Championship. “We don’t want to be in the playoffs,” he said. “We want to win it outright” he added bullishly. “Changing the team around is working well and we must continue to maintain our flexibility which should be possible barring injuries.”

Not only could the hectic conclusion to the season affect the fitness and health of the players but could it also get to the Manager?
As the excitement rises around Croft Park is Dunn feeling the strain? “No not really” he replied. “I’m enjoying it. We have a team now which can score goals and defend well. On top of that our support is excellent and I look forward to every game.”

With Saturday’s trip to Runcorn in mind Dunn was not taking the opposition’s recent heavy defeats lightly. “I know they have conceded 16 goals in two games last week but I’m told that despite their off-the-pitch problems they are able to put out a better team for home fixtures. So we must remain focussed.”