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ALUN Armstrong admits trying to recruit players is becoming ‘really tough’ after his Blyth Spartans side were put through the wringer by South Shields at Mariners Park.
The National League North side were given a thorough preseason test by their north-east rivals in an entertaining derby affair in which they had to battle back from 2-0 down.
The Mariners took the lead through a low driven effort by one of their trialists early on before Carl Finnigan doubled the advantage on 20 minutes with a header past Peter Jameson.
Spartans halved the deficit 13 minutes later as Liam Connell failed to keep out Dan Maguire’s close-range strike despite getting a hand to it, before the visitors equalised on the cusp of half-time through Michael Liddle’s point-blank finish.
Both sides saw chances to maintain their 100 per cent pre-season records flash by in the second half but, ultimately, they couldn’t be separated.
Concerned Armstrong said: “I’ve got a few niggles so I decided to look at something different and it backfired massively. Once we changed back to our usual system I think everyone could see what we’re capable of, but we’re still short of fitness and you could tell when they fatigued at the end.
“I’m still a few players short and trying to get those players or trying to find the funds to get players is impossible to be honest, it’s really tough.”
South Shields opened the scoring after a cagey first nine minutes when Josh Gillies’ ball found the unnamed trialist, who turned on the edge of the area before rifling low past Jameson.
The hosts were well on top and it was no surprise when they made it 2-0 as Gillies’ cross was headed into the bottom corner by Finnigan.
Blyth, though, grew into the game and made it 2-1 through Maguire’s one-on-one finish, before Liddle equalised from close range following Connell’s initial save from Kieran Green’s 20-yard effort.
Shields substitute Michael Colquhoun almost stole victory for the hosts at the death but he blazed over the bar from inside the area after beating Blyth’s offside trap.
South Shields joint-manager Lee Picton said: “We said to the boys after the game that today was genuinely a missed opportunity to win.
“Having said that, we were really pleased with certain aspects of our play, although there’s still a million and one things that we need to improve on.”