Tom talks - after the Chorley game

A fatal few minutes in the first half floored Tom Wade's team at Chorley on Tuesday.

"We started ok for the first quarter of an hour but we switched off for five minutes and paid the price," said the Blyth manager. "Chorley were always going to be strong at set pieces and we didn't deal with a corner correctly for the first goal. For the second one, only minutes later, we allowed Dean to turn on to his better side and score even though his shot was deflected.

"They had a really powerful forward line and being at home we were always going to face a battle but we went for it in the second half and were very competitive. If we could have taken one of our chances in that period we could well have gone on to get something from the game."

Despite impressive play from the visitors the Magpies scored two minutes from the end to win 3-0.

Wade said: "We had several long range shots and their keeper made some fantastic saves. We are lacking a cutting edge but we carried no luck either. Matty [Wade] had a great shot deflected just wide then they had a shot deflected in!

"I thought Lewis Horner, Dan Maguire and Matty were outstanding. They played some excellent football. They are young lads who are on the same wavelength. Matty shouldn't have played because of injury and for this Saturday's game at Barwell I might have to give a couple of lads a rest. Aaran Wearmouth will come back into contention and, like Matty, might have to play through the pain barrier. Make no mistake about it we will be having a right go at the weekend and the lads are chomping at the bit to get a result."