Kevin Phillips praises former Newcastle United man after South Shields home win against Lancaster City

Kevin Phillips praised the impact of Mackenzie Heaney after the South Shields winger came off the bench to inspire his side to a 2-0 win against Lancaster City.

The Mariners endured a somewhat frustrating first-half against a well-organised Dolly Blues side and their inability to breakthrough their visitors led Phillips to call upon substitute Heaney as the hour-mark approached.

The former Newcastle United academy star made an instant impact as he perfectly-weighted pass allowed Martin Smith to find Darius Osei at the far post and the forward made no mistake with a well-taken header.

Heaney continued to produce a livewire display as he took the game to the visitors throughout the remaining half-hour. Smith was the creator once again as the former Sunderland and Hartlepool United midfielder made the most of the space left behind by clever run by Heaney to find Robert Briggs and the Mariners stalwart secured the points for his side with a sumptuous finish from just inside the area.

Speaking after the game, Phillips revealed his delight over Heaney’s performance and admitted he would understand if the winger felt disappointed not to have started the game.

He told The Gazette: “Mackenzie is a terrific player. Some of the stuff he does in training is incredible and he will find himself very unlucky not to have started and I know he will be disappointed.

“But what I have in there is great attitudes and Mackenzie has one of those. When you ask your subs to come on, you want them to perform for you and make a difference.

“He has come on and he has changed the game with his technical ability, the way he retains the ball, he’s a dribbler and it was probably a game that didn’t suit Jordy (Mongoy). They banked up, there was no space. Mackenzie came on, he changed it, and he made a real impact and I am delighted with him.”

The win against Lancaster played a part in what was almost a perfect weekend for the title-chasing Mariners.

They left the pitch on Saturday afternoon to discover second placed Hyde United had fallen to a surprise 1-0 home defeat against Warrington Rylands and third placed Bamber Bridge had also dropped points with a 1-1 home draw against Stalybridge Celtic.

That means Phillips’ side will head into Tuesday night’s home game with struggling Liversedge five point advantage at the top of the table.

Despite finding his side in a fine position in their quest for promotion into the National League North, Sunderland legend Phillips insisted he will clamp down on any signs of complacency should he sense them from within his dressing room.

“I don’t tend to look at the table but people are telling me all of the time what is going on,” he explained.

“You can only beat what’s in front of you and now my attention turns towards Liversedge on Tuesday night and trying to keep this good run going. They will make it difficult for us, but when we play teams like this we need to move the ball quickly, we need angles, we need to make positive decisions.

“I am delighted, we are in a strong position in the league, but I’ve been in football too long to get carried away. We cannot let complacency set in, we have good professionals in there that won’t let it happen and if I do smell it I’ll be clamping down on it straightaway.”