Up to last Saturday Workington have beaten Blyth Spartans every time they’ve played - plus the Croft Park side have failed to score on all four occasions.

Harry Dunn’s side, however, ended that dismal sequence when they beat the Reds 3-1 in the north east.
Dunn says he was pleased with the result and his side’s performance, which showed some character coming on the back of games at Southport and AFC Telford United where Blyth failed to pick up any points when the standard of their play would have suggested otherwise.

Dunn commented: “I was extremely happy with our first half. We kept the ball well at times, we were strong at the back and our goals were all quality finishes. Phil Bell’s opener was neatly struck and Anthony Hume’s first goal for the club was a nicely glanced header. And then Gareth Williams came up with another of his excellent free kicks.”

Dunn felt sorry for Bell, who had to be substituted with a twisted ankle. “Phil’s just come back from injury and this happens,” he said. “He was just starting to form what looked like being a good partnership up front with Hume too.”

As often happens when a side has built up a big lead Blyth fell away a little in the second half.

“We were bound to drop the pace after half time” said Dunn, “but I said to the players at the interval that we had won the first half and just needed to draw the second. We still created chances though and I thought we fully deserved the three points.”

New captain for this season, Gareth Williams, was understandably delighted with the win. His goal, direct from a free kick, was his third such success in as many Saturdays, and he was named as the man of the match.

He agrees that his is playing his best football for Blyth since signing in August 1999.

“I am very proud and pleased to be captain and I think we will do alright this year if we keep playing as we are. We’ve started well and six points from our four games is not bad when you remember that two of those were at Southport and Telford – and we were unlucky in both of those matches.”

Asked about his newly-found ability with free kicks, Williams modestly puts it down to the footballs used in the Blue Square North this season. “You can almost just pass the ball into the net rather than having to really strike it. Hit it right and it just flies.”

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