Magnay delighted as South Shields bounce back from double defeat with Merthyr win
South Shields claimed a home win against Merthyr Town to boost their hopes of claiming the National League North title.
As responses to a double setback go, this was spectacular from South Shields.
With manager Ian Watson dealing with a personal issue and successive defeats against Hereford and King’s Lynn Town dealing a slight blow to their promotion hopes, the Mariners bounced back in stunning fashion with a dominant win against third placed Merthyr Town.
After surviving some early pressure by the narrowest of margins as a curling effort from visitors captain Jack Evans struck the crossbar, the Mariners stamped their authority on the game as top goalscorer Paul Blackett scored twice in the space of seven minutes to put the hosts in control. A third goal arrived ten minutes before half-time as on-loan Middlesbrough youngster Sonny Finch produced a stunning solo effort and he added to his list of goal involvements as his neat cross allowed Ollie Bainbridge to head home a fourth within ten minutes of the restart. There was still time for a late consolation for the visitors as Lewys Twamley fired home from the penalty spot after he had been brought down by Will Jenkins - but that could not take any of the shine away from an impressive display for Mariners assistant Magnay.
He told The Gazette: “The Hereford game, the performance was good but it was just one of those games. Then the ask to go to King’s Lynn, we were flat on the night, we admit the performance wasn’t great. Coming back home, where the record is really good, we felt confident going into the game. We prepared really well, we changed the shape out of respect for Merthyr because if you play a certain way they can expose you. It’s been a tricky part of the season with Ian not being here, we’ve accumulated some injuries but we have a few coming back.”
It could be argued it was the visitors that started on the front foot and they came within inches of grabbing an early lead when skipper Evans curled an effort against the Mariners crossbar with keeper Tom Watson grasping at thin air. However, South Shields made the most of that narrow escape when Blackett grabbed his first goal of the day on the quarter-hour mark after firing home from an Ollie Bainbridge cross before the duo combined once again for the striker to double his tally with a similar effort seven minutes later.
However, the most memorable moment of the first-half came ten minutes before the interval as Boro youngster Finch collected a ball inside the centre circle before driving between two defenders, drawing goalkeeper Cogman from his line and slotting the ball beyond the visitors number one and into his net. Finch’s impact on the game was considerable and it grew even further when his stunning cross allowed Bainbridge to add to his two assists with a fine header less than ten minutes after the restart.
Standards
Despite the game being far out of their reach, Merthyr had the final say inside the final ten minutes as the impressive Twamley fired home from the penalty spot after he had been brought down in the area by Jenkins. However, this was a case of momentum regained and a positive end to what had been a challenging week for the Mariners. There was further good news as news of AFC Fylde’s narrow defeat at Worksop Town meant the gap to the Coasters had been closed to just a solitary point - although Magnay insisted the only focus for the South Shields players should be on themselves.
He said: “It’s a really boring response, Ian would say the same. I think our point with that is, regardless of what’s going on elsewhere, why should that change your mindset. Whether other teams have won, lost, drawn, that should impact on your focus. We demand the same standards and the same focus to the game so whatever happens elsewhere, happens elsewhere, we just plough on with our jobs.”
South Shields: Watson, Tinkler, Bainbridge, Sykes, McGurk (Wheeldon), Blackett (Carson), Jenkins (Savage), Mann, Finch (Smith), Alcock, Dodds Subs: Sheik, Morse, Robson
Merthyr Town: Cogman, Ryan-Phillips, Garrick, Twamley, Spiers, Evans, Maddox (Xavier-Jones), Cox (Handley), Williams, Thomas, Lucas (John) Subs: Harris, Harris