Myers muses - after the Newcastle game

While most of those Blyth fans fortunate to have seen the Spartans game on Friday evening against Newcastle Under 21s were eulogising about their side's performance, despite a narrow 3-2 defeat, assistant manager Colin Myer's reaction was more measured.

"Yes, it was a very good performance but, to be honest conceding two late goals has left a bitter taste in the mouth," he said.

"We allowed crosses to come in and paid the price. It was poor defending.

"However our passing and movement matched Newcastle's at least. We have some great players here-that's why we brought them in. We want to play in a certain way and have the opposition chasing the ball. We even had Newcastle doing that in spells. So, yes in terms on open play we were absolutely brilliant but we still need to work on our defending. I think we've conceded five goals at the back post this pre-season. We've either not stopped the crosses coming in or we've not been marking tightly enough."

"It was a great game to watch. We could have been two or three up in the first half but it's got to be said that both goalkeepers were excellent. I just hope our fans, and Newcastle's, enjoyed it and get back to Croft Park again soon to support us."