Picton’s patter - after the Halesowen game

Blyth boss Tom Wade missed his first ever game as a manager or coach on Saturday when his side travelled to the Midlands to take on Halesowen Town. As a result of being struck down by bronchitis his assistant Lee Picton took over control of team affairs.

Picton commented on the Spartans 1-0 victory.

"It was a huge win for us. A thoroughly encouraging three points," he said. "It was a slow start but when you travel four and a half hours on the coach you don't expect to immediately play your normal brand of football from the off.

"There was a slight breeze and slope against us in the first half and it took a little time for us to find our feet. We struggled to look after the ball high up the pitch and couldn't get a foothold in their territory but in the second half we were much improved and were able to hold the ball and move it around much better.

"It was definitely a penalty for me when Robbie [Dale] was fouled. It was a big, clear tug on his shirt. I think we went on to play better in the second half as the wetter the pitch got the more it took a bit of the bounce and bobble out of the surface. We could have scored a couple more goals perhaps but a clean sheet away from home is always great."

Picton commented on the injury to Sean Reid: "Fortunately Sean's injury doesn't look as serious as it did at first. But with Dan [Maguire] out too we may need to look to bring in someone this week to cover that potential gap up top.