Nathan Haslam was obviously delighted to see his team pull off a hard earned victory at Hebburn. “We’ve carried on from Saturday, we’ve worked hard and stuck to the game plan. We knew we’d get chances in the second half. The first half was hard for us, we rode our luck a little bit, they created chances but I think we were worth the win. I think we’ve stuck to our game which is possession based football and we’ve had a lot of possession.”
Acknowledging that the Hebburn goal was never put under real pressure in the first 45 minutes, he commented “We know we have to be better in the final third, we know we need to create a little bit more but while we’ve got the ball the opposition haven’t and that’s the way we look at it. We’re a team that are going to progress, over the course of the season it’s about improving and that’s what’s happening. The thing I’m really happy about is they are comfortable and composed on the ball, they’re doing what I’m asking them and believing in each other, believing what we’re telling them. I do think that the last two performances have instilled a little bit more belief in them and it’s the way forward for us.
“Our season has been defined by mistakes, most of the goals we concede are mistakes, which is what you get with young players, and if we eradicate the mistakes we’ll get more positive results. For their goal today Dan’s held his hands up, it was a mistake in the first half but it’s a team game. The lads have got him out of jail but then he’s got us out of jail by making two cracking saves, and that’s what he’s there for. It was a fantastic save in stoppage time. We know Dan’s a good keeper but we know that with inexperience you’re going to make mistakes and I keep saying, you’ve got to make mistakes to get better so it’s another game for Dan as a 19 year old in senior football and he’s learned a lot tonight again.”
Lee Kerr was unlucky not to put Whitley in front with a great shot that crashed off the underside of the bar. “At 1-1 when that happens, you think it’s going to go against us, it was unlucky, it hit the crossbar and came down back into the keeper’s hands.
“We’ve controlled that game for large periods and as it went on Hebburn went more direct. That suited us with our two big lads at the back and we’ve done the horrible part of the game tonight, we’ve grafted and really put our foot in when we’ve needed to.”
Highlighting the part played by Lee Kerr he added “Sparky hasn’t played a lot of football but he’s worked hard and an opportunity has come tonight because Coleby Shepherd’s not available to us and Sparky’s done what we’ve asked him to do. We thought fitness was getting the better of him about the hour mark, but the goal’s changed him, he’s somehow got another 15-20% in him so it’s credit to him and I’m happy for him because we know what Sparky brings and we want more of it.
“Right at the end it was an unfortunate incident involving Proctor. He’s a young lad, he thinks he’s been fouled, he reacts with a bit of a cynical foul which was probably a yellow card. There was a bit of a melee afterwards and he’s raised his arm. Was it a sending off? The ref’s seen it that way. So no complaints, when you raise your hands that’s what happens, so it’s a three game ban.”
Summing the game up and the reaction of the Bay fans who were at the game he concluded “Fingers crossed the fans are all happy. This team is progressing and capable of pulling out results like this, it’s not by luck but by playing the game the right way. I really do think we’ve turned a corner, I can see in our game management we have got that edge about us and winning games in itself is going to instil a bit of confidence and long may that continue!”
