South Shields boss takes positives from Scunthorpe United loss
There was a narrow defeat for South Shields after they were beaten by National League North rivals Scunthorpe United on Saturday.
Elliott Dickman tried to take the positives from South Shields’ narrow defeat at National League North rivals Scunthorpe United.
The Mariners finally returned to action for the first time since a New Years Day home defeat against Darlington as they faced a tough-looking test against a home side that a firmly in the battle for the title and promotion into the National League. Dickman’s side fell behind in the early stages as Joe Rowley opened the scoring for the hosts - but the Mariners got back on level-terms on the quarter-hour mark when top goalscorer Paul Blackett produced a cool finish.
The Iron restored their advantage just before half-time with a goal from former Newcastle United and Blyth Spartans winger Callum Roberts and Danny Whitehall extended the lead 11 minutes after the restart to seemingly take his side out of sight. To their credit, South Shields kept pressing forwards and got back into the game with just under ten minutes remaining as Mackenzie Heaney marked his return to the side with a neat finish after fine approach play from substitute Kyle Crossley.
Despite some late pressure, an equaliser remained out of reach for the Mariners - but Dickman refused to be too disheartened by the loss against one of the favourites for promotion into non-league’s top tier.
He told The Gazette: “Apart from the scoreline, there are positives, there wasn’t a great deal in the game and I felt it could have gone either way. We scored two good goals and some of our play, especially towards the end was very progressive. It’s disappointing to concede the goals we’ve conceded and we need to be better in the transitions and key moments in the game. That’s let us down today and that’s frustrating but there are some positives to take from us.”
There has been mixed news on the injury front for Dickman after he was able to call on the services of goalscorer Heaney once again - but was dealt a blow when David Carson picked up a knock in training on Friday and Dan Ward hobbled out of the action on Saturday with a hamstring injury. The Mariners boss admitted it was good to have Heaney back in the action once again but was left disappointed by the injuries suffered by two other members of his squad.
He said: “Having Mackenzie back in the side is good for us because he brings good energy to the team. He’s fantastic, he’s a really important player for us and we talk about the group, we were saying it’s the first time we’ve had a fully fit squad - but then we lost David Carson to a knock yesterday and then Dan Ward had to come off with a hamstring niggle. We feel like we are getting somewhere and then you get a knock like this but that’s football.”
The Mariners will now turn their focus towards the first of three consecutive home games as Scarborough Athletic visit the 1st Cloud Arena next Saturday afternoon.