Winner like a dream for goal hero Robbo

They say timing is everything in football and for home debutant Paul Robinson there can never be a truer word spoken. The former Whitley Bay man made his Spartans home debut and marked it with a stunning late winner to help his side defy the odds to beat a battling Rushall Olympic side. Despite being down to ten men Spartans beat the Midlands outfit and Robinson admitted he "couldn't have dreamt it any better".

"To be fair to Nipa(Dan Maguire) he has done brilliantly to beat a couple of men and find me on the left. It was a great feeling to see it go in and celebrate behind the goal with the supporters. As soon as it left my foot I knew it was going in, I couldn't have dreamt it any better"

Robinson was quick to pay tribute to the Croft Park faithful and he felt they played their part in the win. With Spartans seemingly coming undone after throwing away a two goal lead and being reduced to ten men Robinson was delighted to see the Green Army stick by his side.

"The fans were great today and they really stuck with us in the second half when - if we are honest - we were poor and our standards dropped. We showed a lot of character to put everything that had happened behind us and get the three points that we deserved"

It's been a tough introduction to life at Croft Park for Robinson with his first two fixtures resulting in two defeats but despite those reverses he admitted he saw positive signs.

"The Darlington 1883 game was tough and maybe I shouldn't have played. Last week at Buxton we showed that we can play some good stuff and probably deserved a point but there were some great performances today. We probably lacked a bit of killer instinct and could have won by more, the three points are appreciated and it was great how it worked out in the end"