Blyth Town Whites: 2, FC Amble: 3
Amble played Blyth for the second week running, after narrowly beating them the previous week.
Amble, once again, were the first to show, with livewire striker D Ramshaw forcing the Blyth Keeper into a smart save in only the second minute. Amble made their early dominance count in the fourth minute when J Ford fired in a free kick, which found its way into the net to give Amble a 1-0 lead. However, after this early goal, Amble had a crazy two minute spell in which they failed to defend properly as a team, and found themselves trailing 2-1 after two quick-fire goals from the hosts.
Amble were by far the better team, despite trailing, and were unlucky when D Handyside’s strike came back off the post, with the keeper well beaten. They then, deservedly, pulled level before the break, when K Goodwin’s strike proved too hot to handle for the keeper and squirmed over the line to take both teams level at halftime (2-2).
Amble then put in a very assured second half display, where they were totally in control and moved the ball around the park in imperious fashion, limiting Blyth to the odd counterattack, which were easily dealt with by R Paton, B Handyside and K Goodwin, with keeper T Hall mopping up well behind them. They were well protected by D Armstrong and M Kerr on the flanks, and controlled the game through J Ford and D Handyside, who caused problems all match. Amble took the lead with five minutes remaining, and it was once again J Ford who took the game by the scruff of its neck and powered past two defenders with ease, before firing an unstoppable strike into the roof of the net. Amble then saw out the match with ease to once again take the three points with a 3-2 victory.
Manager Barry Paton said “I am pleased with the performance and the victory, but we have to learn to defend as a team and not give silly goals away, or we could be punished. But the lads were great today and passed the ball well.”
Spurreli’s man of the match: J Ford.
