Mike Williamson frustrated by South Shields FC's home draw with Spalding United
South Shields FC were held to a 1-1 home draw by National League North rivals Spalding United on Monday.
Mike Williamson accused his South Shields FC players of being too passive after they were held to a 1-1 home draw by National League North rivals Spalding United.
The Mariners appeared to be on their way to all three points when Jordan Marshall crashed home the opening goal of the game just after half-time - but the points were shared as Tulips substitute Abduramane Sani bundled the ball in from close range during the final five minutes to give his side some reward.
Williamson stressed a lack of ruthlessness across the pitch cost his side a chance to secure all three points ahead of next weekend’s visit to Hednesford Town.
He told The Gazette: “We controlled the majority of it, we did create chances so I won’t say we weren’t good enough in that area - but what I say to the lads is when we were one goal ahead I saw too many passive habits and I didn’t see a team that wanted to be ruthless and kill things off. That’s not just in goalscoring or in the final action, that’s in everything, that desire to get back and not just dangle a leg. The desire to put your body in, to press someone, to make contact and do the simple things.”
After a surprisingly quiet opening 15 minutes, the game burst into life as the two sides swapped chances in the space of 60 seconds with Mariners winger Sean McGurk bringing a smart save out of visitors keeper Peter Crook before Tulips midfielder Tate Xavier-Jones sent a volley narrowly wide.
That kickstarted a flurry of chances with Mariners captain for the day Paul Blackett heading over from point-blank range after meeting a Jack Roles cross before the former Spennymoor Town forward fired wide of the near post after good work from Roles and Sam Ashford. There was almost a late blow for the Mariners just before half-time when Spalding created arguably the best chance of the half when a swift counter-attack allowed Ben Fowkes to race in on goal - but he was denied by a smart stop from Jasper Sheik that ensured the scores were level at the break.
That all changed within four minutes of the restart as the Mariners grabbed the lead in spectacular fashion with a stunning long-range effort from Marshall as the left-back crashed an unstoppable drive beyond Crook to rack up his first goal for the club.
The Mariners were grateful for the sharp reflexes of goalkeeper Sheik during the final 20 minutes as he produced two fine saves to deny Jack Roberts and Fowkes to preserve his side’s lead and to take them within touching distance of the win. However, there was nothing the former Crawley Town stopper could do to prevent Sani from poking home from close range with five minutes remaining to help the visitors claim a share of the spoils from their long trip to the North East.
‘We haven’t killed the game off’
The manner of the equaliser only added to Williamson’s frustration as he assessed a disappointing end to proceedings as his side dropped points on their home patch for the second consecutive game.
He said: “I can forgive lads when there is a naivety when they’re trying to do certain things by busting a gut or they’re harrying a player and putting a tackle in. But I feel like we’ve allowed them to get the goal and we haven’t killed the game off and that is the most disappointing aspect of the whole game.”
South Shields: Sheik, Marshall, Sykes, Onanaye, Blackett, Roles (Kelly), McGurk (Chibueze), Mann, Scott, Ashford (Savage), Campbell Subs: Morse, Crossley, Blaney, Jordan
Spalding United: Crook, Olopade, Kelly, Moore, Johnson, Xavier-Jones (Sani), Pugh (Betteka), Cybulski (Sembie-Ferris), Fowkes, Byrne (Bendle), Straughan-Brown Subs: Wilks, Fox