Northern League: ‘Frank words’ inspired Seaham Red Star comeback
It was a busy weekend across the Northern League’s second tier.
Seaham Red Star assistant manager Michael Johnson revealed ‘some frank words’ at half-time inspired an impressive turnaround in Saturday’s home win against AFC Newbiggin.
Mark Collingwood’s men made a slow start to the contest and found themselves two goals down inside the opening 20 minutes as Ethan Smith and Michael Johnstone both found the net for the visitors. The Northumberland outfit were reduced to ten men midway through the second-half when Ben Middleton was dismissed - and that played a part in helping Red Star roar back into the game in the final ten minutes.
Lewis Rutherford kickstarted the comeback before Jack Leonard looked to have helped his side secure a point with a late penalty. However, their reward was to be even greater Ryan O’Connor completed the turnaround in the fourth minute of added-on time.
Speaking after the game, Red Star number two Johnson praised his side’s second-half display as ‘magnificent’ and was ‘absolutely delighted’ to see their spirited comeback produce a second consecutive league win.
He told The Echo: “It was a tremendous comeback. If I am honest, I thought we dominated the game for large periods - but we did our usual thing of letting ourselves down by giving Newbiggin a two-goal head start. But from the 20th minute, we were very good and we went in at half-time two goals down and we had some frank words to be honest.
“It’s done the trick because second-half, we were magnificent and we completely dominated. It could have been six or seven and we have to be absolutely delighted with the three points because being able to come back from two goals down is a great quality to have. We were fantastic in the second-half, we have shown what we can do.”
Results: Alnwick Town 3-0 Durham United, Billingham Synthonia 1-3 Park View, Boldon CA 2-0 Sunderland RCA, Chester-le-Street Town 3-4 Tow Law Town, Grangetown Boys Club 0-3 Billingham Town, Jarrow 2-0 Prudhoe YC, Ryton and Crawcrook Albion 1-1 FC Hartlepool, Seaham Red Star 3-2 AFC Newbiggin, Seaton Carew 2-1 Newcastle University, Stokesley SC 3-2 Darlington Town
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