Watson satisfied as South Shields boost promotion hopes with Curzon win

South Shields manager Ian Watson hailed his side after they made it 15 games unbeaten and moved four points clear at the top of the National League North table with a 3-0 home win against Curzon Ashton.

The Mariners made a fast-paced start to the contest and had racked up a two-goal lead by the midway point of the first-half thanks to a deflected effort from winger Sean McGurk and top goalscorer Paul Blackett’s seventh goal in his last five games. Substitute Dan Dodds came off the bench to round off another impressive day for Watson and his players when he added a third goal with 12 minutes remaining.

Watson praised his side for not getting too wrapped up in their midweek exploits as they saw off title rivals AFC Fylde and believes they showed ‘loads of intent’ to claim yet another impressive win on their home patch.

He told The Gazette: “We started really well and sometimes you don’t get credit for your reaction to wins. Everybody talks about reacting to defeats but you have to react to wins as well and we did that really well. Our energy at the start of the game brought a really good tempo, we had loads of intent but we fell into playing the scoreboard at two-nil. Can we just get through the game keeping this? When you do that football hurts you and we had some moments we managed well. Our game management was good in the second half and we did really well.”

The Mariners wasted little time in getting themselves in front as winger McGurk scored for the second successive game with a curling effort that took a deflection off the chest of a visitors defender before nestling in the back of Callum Hawkins’ net. Things went from bad to worse for Curzon as Blackett doubled their tally with 16 minutes on the clock by volleying home his seventh goal in five games after getting on the end of a fine cross from Sonny Finch.

The on-loan Middlesbrough youngster came close to getting himself on the scoresheet midway through the half after his angled drive was parried away by Hawkins seconds after Mariners keeper Tom Watson produced a smart save to deny the dangerous Tony Weston. It was the visitors that ended the half on the front foot as wing-back Chibuike Ezennolim finally broke free of Finch’s shackles before forcing Watson into a reaction save that ensured his side preserved their two-goal advantage at the break.

Focused

Despite holding a two-goal advantage, the Mariners made life uncomfortable for themselves during the opening 20 minutes of the second-half - although their visitors only really mustered one opportunity as Alex Curran curled a shot narrowly wide of the far post. There was a feeling a third goal was needed just to kill off any hope of an already unlikely comeback and that arrived 13 minutes from time when substitute Dan Dodds tapped home from close range after getting on the end of a neat cross from Bainbridge.

There was further good news for the Mariners when news filtered through that title rivals Fylde had dropped two points at Leamington - although Watson stressed his only focus was on his own side.

He said: “Honestly, and I don’t mean this to be rude, but what Fylde do has no relevance to my mood or anything really. I am just focused on us, what we are doing and our way - and our way is the only thing that is important to me.”

South Shields: Watson, Bainbridge (Roles), Sykes, Morse, McGurk (Dodds), Robson (Alcock), Blackett, Jenkins, Mann, Finch (Ward (Smith)), Wheeldon Subs: All used

Curzon Ashton: Hawkins, Stokes (Sobowale), Curran (Atkinson), Spencer (Sangare), T Weston, C Weston (Stobbs), Darby, Richards, Barton, Ezennolim, Curley Subs: Flannery, Stritch

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