Hubbard feels loss was hard on solid Spartans

Spartans midfielder Craig Hubbard felt his side were well worthy of a point as they left Gigg Lane empty handed following a 1-2 reverse at the hands of FC United of Manchester. Two late goals from Mike Norton and Tom Greaves meant that a disciplined performance from Hubbard and his team mates went unrewarded but the former West Auckland man feels even the home side couldn't complain if the points had been shared.

He said "It's obviously disappointing because we hung on for so long and it's only really in the last ten minutes that they caused us real problems. We only have ourselves to blame to be fair because we were told to go at them second half rather than sitting back but maybe we just ran out of legs because we have worked so hard. We deserved at least a point and I don't think even they would deny that."

The game was played out in front of a bumper crowd of 1,730 with Spartans backed by an impressive band of two hundred members of the Green Army. Hubbard was quick to praise the travelling support from Northumberland and was keen to stress the importance that the players place on having their backing as they travel to away games.

He revealed "It was class out there and the atmosphere was excellent. At times you couldn't hear yourself think and their fans were good. Our fans were amazing today and we could hear them all the way through the game. At home the fans play a real part and when you come away from home it's great to know they follow us in numbers and get behind us. They were just fantastic today."

With six weeks of the season left Spartans face a hectic schedule. With two games left before the end of March before they face nine fixtures during April it's certain to be a busy time for Hubbard and the Spartans squad but he wants to see everyone in Tom Wade's squad pulling together to ensure that the season is rounded off in a positive fashion.

He said "Obviously it's going to be busy and today was my first ninety minutes for quite a while. Everyone has to really play their part between now and the end of the season because we have such a busy schedule but we have a bigger squad now and I think we can get a decent run together."