‘Buzzing’ atmosphere as Magpies battle back
The atmosphere at York Road on Saturday was 'buzzing' as Maidenhead United fought back to grab a share of the spoils with Grimsby Town, and assistant manager, Ryan Peters, is keen for the Magpies to continue serving up entertaining fare for the supporters.
Nearly 2,000 fans turned up to watch the Magpies take on one of the league's big hitters, promotion hopefuls Grimsby Town, and they can't fail to have been impressed by the quality of football on display.
If, after four straight league defeats, supporters feared this might be a backs-to-the-wall defensive display from the hosts, they'd have been pleasantly surprised by the Magpies' attacking intent over the full 90 minutes.
They should have taken the lead in the first half, with Josh Kelly and Emile Acquah spurning their most presentable opportunities, however, they continued to press their high-flying visitors, even after falling behind. And they were deservedly rewarded for their endeavours in the 83rd minute when Kane Ferdinand rose well to head home Shaun Donnellan's cross from deep.
“That was a much better performance,” said Peters. “Those who were at Notts County last week will have seen us play that way for 45 minutes, but the difference today is we were able to maintain that for 90 minutes.
“This is a good Grimsby side and we've come away thinking we should have had more from the game. That's how well we've played today. I think if we take our chances in the first half, we come away with a 2-1 victory, but there are improvements and we're slowly getting there.”
Shaun Donnellan impressed on his return to the side following injury, setting up Ferdinand for the home side's equaliser, but Peters said it would be unfair to pick out any individuals after such a fine team display.
He also thanked the Magpies supporters for their unstinting support, not just on Saturday but over the last few weeks as well, and he hopes to see them back at York Road for the visit of King's Lynn Town on Saturday.
He said: “Shaun’s been out for a long time and to be able to put in a performance like that, and have an assist for the goal, he’s had a really good day today.
“But I can’t single out any one person, everyone has been brilliant today.
“The fans were chanting all match long, so the last thing we want to do is keep losing. They’re coming here and paying their hard-earned money and they want to see us perform and we did today. I hope they keep coming down. We had a year or two of not having any fans, but the atmosphere was buzzing today.”
He added: “Boys are coming back, but they’re coming back slowly. Some of those who have come back aren’t quite at 100 per cent yet.
“So, it’s going to take a bit of time, unfortunately for us the games are coming thick and fast so they’re going to have to get used to the demands of the league as quickly as they can.”