Following the 3-2 victory over Blyth Spartans, assistant manager Martin Coyne spoke about the win.

On the victory

It was a tough game,the conditions didn’t help, the wind was very strong, probably stronger than people realise when you’re actually out there on the pitch. It was difficult playing against it but we chose to go against the wind in the first half, but it ended up being a bit stop-start, probably a reflection of our season in both final thirds. That said, we still should have scored two or three goals in the first half.

At half-time, the gaffer switched a few things around and it worked really well. We looked to get in behind a little quicker. Credit to Blyth, although they’re relegated, they made a good account of themselves today. They should be proud of their performance.

On the character the lads showed
Absolutely. They showed real resilience, conceding but then coming back strongly. Special mention to young Showman it was a fantastic finish to win us the game. He looked really lively when he came on, very pleased with him.

Both lads from Salford did really well. They’re direct, young, and hungry, and they want to get the ball down and play. Very promising signs from both of them.

On ”One Club Day”

It’s something we’ve talked about before. Seven years ago, we started the junior football club with just 32 kids. Seeing everyone out there today for the photo shows just how far we’ve come, not just the juniors, but the whole football club.

It’s been a fantastic turnout, the weather’s been lovely, and there’s even a band playing at the club now so a really successful day.

I’m hoping not just for today’s crowd to return, but even more to come along next week against Matlock we’ve already started planning for next week and preparations begin on Tuesday.

With the deadline for signings now passed, coming in on loan is forward Sandro Da Costa from Salford City.

Sandro started his career at Manchester United before joining FC United where he impressed enough to be offered a full time contract

This season the Irish born forward has had spells at Bamber Bridge and Warrington Rylands and is in the squad to face Whitby Town tomorrow

Also joining on Work Experience from the Ammies are Alfie Bairstow and Harry Showman

We can confirm there has been a change in venue for the ManchesterPremier Cup Final against Irlam FC

The tie will now be played at Broadhurst Park, home of FC United, on Tuesday 15th April, 7.45pm kick off. Tickets will be available from the club, details to be confirmed.

To celebrate Non-League Day, which takes place this coming Saturday 22nd March, we are offering reduced admission for our fixture at home to Prescot Cables.

The admission prices are:-

Adults £10

Concessions £7

Under 18’s £5

Under 12’s £2 (Must be accompanied by an adult)

Get yourself down and get behind the lads

On the defeat

It was very harsh, I just said to the lads, and I said to the supporters, that at the beginning of the season, this year was always going to be a learning curve and they’re learning the hard way.

You probably can’t get two more contrasting teams; they had a group of men, we had a group of kids. We finished the game with our oldest player being 27.

But I thought the performance was excellent. We had a game plan to frustrate them in the first half, slow the game down, and I just told the boys to play football.

That’s what I said to them at half-time as well, I told them they had gone away from what we had planned to do. We were supposed to move the ball quickly and knock it about.

They made changes, they had to make changes, the big lad, (Liam Hughes) has come on and done what he’s good at.

On the goals conceaded?

The first goal is really frustrating  first of all, we should have cleared it better, and then you can’t let the big man have three touches in our box. But I thought our response was outstanding we created chance after chance.

It came down to decision-making, and that’s been our season in a nutshell. In both boxes, we should have scored more goals, and we should have defended better.

We equalised, but then they came back with a great header, and the third goal came from a mistake.

I’ve analysed the game with the lads, and they’ve done everything I asked, especially in the second half, which I thought was tremendous. But two mistakes in our box, two mistakes in theirs and that’s football, unfortunately.

On being braver on the ball

I told the lads, if we try to battle against them, we haven’t got a chance. I thought we defended well at times, but this is a tough place to come. I kept telling them to believe in themselves, In the second half, they stuck to the plan and we sucked them in to go long and then played through their press.

If we had scored that second goal when we were on top, I think we would have gone on to win the game.

On  the current state of the injuries

Shaq came off with a dead leg. You could see he wasn’t himself. Lewis Thompson is going to be out for another three or four weeks.

You look at their bench, and I don’t even want to think about how much money they had sitting there.

We had a young academy lad as our substitute goalkeeper, young Frankie on loan from Halifax, and Ayo and Brad coming back from injury. So yes, we are a bit short, but it is what it is.

You have to look at the resources we have as a club, decisions need to be made, we’re just trying to stick at it.

Is the focus now shifting towards next season?

No, I don’t want to do that. I want to finish as high as possible. We knew this game today wasn’t going to define our season it was always going to be a tough one. Last week was disappointing, but we need to finish strong.

Why can’t we go on a run and get sixth place like we have in the last two seasons? Let’s give the supporters something to cheer about, get some wins on the board. The lads need to start believing in themselves.

We’ve been saying it from day one there are some good players out there. Are they tired? Yes, they probably are.

A lot of them have never played this much football before. But we’ll stick together, and we’ll keep pushing.

We travel to Runcorn Linnets tomorrow night for a Cheshire Senior Cup Semi Final.

If you wish to buy tickets in advance you can at https://runcornlinnetsfc.ktckts.com/event/rlfccscsf/hyde-united

Ticket Prices are as follows:-