South Shields persistence and attitude pleases Watson after late Southport win

South Shields manager Ian Watson praised the persistence of his players after they claimed a late win against National League North rivals Southport to hand another boost to their hopes of claiming promotion.

The Mariners kept their composure throughout a hard-fought and tense 90 minutes and their persistence received the maximum reward as on-loan Middlesbrough forward Sonny Finch grabbed the only goal of the game inside the final ten minutes by taking advantage of the determined approach player of team-mate Dan Dodds. That was enough to ensure South Shields are now sitting five points clear at the top of the table - but it was the attitude shown by their players that was the focus for their manager as he reflected on a hard-earned three points.

Speaking after the game, Watson praised the youngster as he told The Gazette: “I felt there was loads of stuff I liked about the performance tonight. You wouldn’t say it’s typically how we want to play but you have to find a way and they found another way to win. The boys didn’t give up and I always felt we were trying to win the game and that’s possibly the difference because I felt they came with a really good game plan, they worked really hard but the fact we were trying to win the game meant if something was going to fall it was going to fall to us.”

The visitors got themselves on the front foot in the opening quarter of an hour and started to pose some major problems for the Mariners defence. There were just five minutes on the clock when Danny Lloyd had a clear sight of goal but could only skew a shot horribly wide before Luke Griffiths tried an audacious effort from distance that dropped narrowly wide of the far post.

The Mariners took until the midway point of the half to create their first real chance of the game - and with it should have come the first goal as on-loan Derby County youngster Lennon Wheeldon failed to make the most of clever approach play from Will Jenkins and Dan Dodds by firing high and wide when well placed.

The Sandgrounders continued to threaten on the other side of the half-hour mark as the lively Lloyd forced Tom Watson into a save at his near post before the Mariners stopper produced an even more impressive effort to deny DJ Pedro from eight yards out. However, it was Watson’s men that ended the half on top with Jenkins and Cedwyn Scott both going close to finally finding a breakthrough. The latter saw an opportunistic effort cleared from the goal-line and that ensured the deadlock remained in place when the half-time whistle was blown.

Tempo

There was a notable increase in the tempo and intensity from South Shields after the restart - but goalscoring opportunities remained few and far-between. The best came midway through the half when Sandgrounders keeper Renshaw failed to hold a mis-hit cross from Wheeldon but Scott narrowly failed to make contact and force the ball into the empty net.

A breakthrough finally arrived with around six minutes remaining and although on-loan Boro youngster Finch got the goal, much of the credit must go to Dan Dodds, as his driving run and neat pass released the forward in on goal. Showing composure far beyond his years, Finch remained cool and slid the ball beyond the advancing Renshaw before taking the acclaim of his team-mates and the majority of those inside the 1st Cloud Arena.

Moment

Speaking of Finch’s impact, Mariners boss Watson said: “I thought the chance had gone when he came back on his right foot but he found a way. It was a really nice moment and sometimes you don’t celebrate goals or get lost in the moment but I definitely did there. It’s not always like that. I’m really pleased for Sonny, he’s been brilliant since he has come into the club and I think we will just get more and more from him to be honest.”

A trip to Merseyside is next on the agenda for Watson and his players as they visit Marine on Saturday afternoon.

South Shields: Watson, Tinkler, Bainbridge, Sykes (McGurk), Jenkins, Mann, Finch (Ward), Wheeldon (Morse), Scott, Alcock, Dodds Subs: Blackett, Blaney, Savage, Sloan

Southport: Renshaw, Pike (Collins), Dwyer, Lavelle (Taylor), Moore, Lloyd (McKenzie), Slew, Pedro, Gnahoua, Keane, Griffiths Subs: McMillan, Tabone, Burgess

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