15 November 2011 : Battling draw stops the rot in manager’s first game
Whitehaven...1 Alnwick Town...1
STL Northern League, Division Two
ALNWICK Town’s new manager paid tribute to his side’s ‘massive effort’ after seeing them end a four-game losing run with a battling away draw with 10-men.
The brave St James’ Park side ground out a point at Whitehaven after fighting for most of the game with a man down following Tom Vickers’ first-half dismissal.
And boss Danny Olson, who was taking charge of his first game – as was his assistant Rob Marshall – was delighted with his side’s commitment to the cause, but was left to rue the red card.
He said: “I was pleased with the attitude and the response of the players.
“If we had kept 11 players we would have won. We were looking comfortable.
“But we played for a long period of time with 10-men and the lads’ attitude was fantastic.
“It was a massive effort all round and no one shirked responsibility.”
Things had started well for Alnwick, who took the lead after 13 minutes – Kris Willis’ terrific high-dipping shot from outside the area beating the keeper all ends up.
It was no less than Alnwick deserved, as the visitors had been on top in the opening exchanges, including a Neil MacPherson effort which was disallowed.
At the other end, Alnwick stopper Brian Brooks had saved well from Malcolm Holliday.
But then came the turning point.
Just after the half-hour, Town were reduced to 10-men as Vickers was given his marching orders for a second bookable offence.
Despite going a man down, Alnwick maintained possession and played some good football for the remainder of the first period.
They were pegged back on the hour though, when a floated free-kick found Leigh Dunn, who headed past Brooks (1-1).
The remaining 30 minutes was end-to-end, but there was to be no winner. The draw meant that Alnwick secured their first league point since the end of September and ended a run of four straight defeats.
Paul Yeadon, who acted as Town’s temporary manager following the resignation of Dougie McEwan and Stephen Gibbard last month, was also in the dugout for the Whitehaven clash.
Alnwick’s next game is on Tuesday, away to Gillford Park. The league match kicks-off at 7.30pm.
Alnwick: Brooks, Murray, Lowes, Brown, Patterson, MacPherson, Willis, Vickers, MacFarlane (J Davison), D Davison, MacKenley (P Hodge).