Ian Watson wants more big occasions for South Shields after FA Cup defeat

South Shields manager Ian Watson wants South Shields to make big occasions a regular feature at the 1st Cloud Arena following his side’s FA Cup first round defeat against League Two strugglers Shrewsbury Town.

The Mariners have enjoyed a largely positive start to their first season under the management of the former Carlisle United and MK Dons assistant and went into Sunday lunchtime’s tie looking to extend a run of form consisting of just one defeat in their first 16 games in all competitions.

With the TNT Sports cameras on hand at a near sold-out 1st Cloud Arena, the Mariners made a bright start with Cedwyn Scott and on-loan Sunderland wing-back Ollie Bainbridge both going close to opening the scoring inside the opening ten minutes.

However, it was Shrewsbury that seized control as a brace from former Portsmouth winger Anthony Scully and a Thomas Sang effort put them into a three-goal lead by the time the half-time whistle was blown.

Appetite

On-loan Middlesbrough youngster Luke Woolston reduced the arrears for South Shields with a deflected effort midway through the second half – but that was as good as it got for Watson and his players as they now turn their focus towards Wednesday night’s visit to National League North promotion rivals AFC Fylde.

The focus has always been on a push towards the EFL in recent seasons for the Mariners, and Watson has stressed occasions such as their first-round defeat should whet the appetite to ensure they became the norm.

He told The NLP: “It gives everyone a taste of where the football club could go and the club should be proud of themselves in terms of how we hosted a big occasion and drew a lot of attention from the community.

“That shows where we need to get to every week and we have to be consistent if we want to get up the leagues and have these games on a weekly basis.

“The people that run this football club will have exactly that same mentality too.

“We have to learn lessons from today and that’s me more than anyone else.

“Tactically, we need to set up better so teams can’t hit us on the transition like that and we have been good with that and have nullified teams.

“We weren’t able to do that today and it’s just frustrating because I felt we showed a lot of good moments and showed what a good side we are.

“There were moments for them that hurt us and defined the game and that has left us all a bit frustrated.”

Professional

The Mariners boss praised the League Two visitors for the professional approach they showed in the buildup to the game that started when Salop manager Michael Appleton travelled to the North East to assess his first round opponents in action against National League North rivals Scarborough Athletic.

That approach paid dividends as Shrewsbury progressed into Monday’s second round draw with a display full of discipline and organisation.

Watson said: “I think they (Shrewsbury) were really professional in how they went about their work today and I knew they would.

“We are a good side, I know we are a good side and they know we are a good side as well.

“I knew before coming here they had a really good manager and he’s very experienced.

“Because of all of that, we expected them to take this really seriously and they were very professional about how they went about things.

“They killed the momentum when we built it up and managed the game after we got our goal back.

“They just didn’t allow us into the dangerous areas, we couldn’t build momentum and they deserved to go through to the next round in my opinion.”

Teams, ratings and more

South Shields: Sheik, Tinkler, Bainbridge, Sykes, Morse, Blackett (Carson 46), Jenkins (Savage 90), Scott, Kelly (Ward 60), Woolston (Alcock 80), Dodds (McGurk 60) Subs not used: Mann, McGowan.

Shrewsbury: Brook, Anderson, Boyle, Stubbs, Kabia, Ruffels (Biggins 80), Sang (Perry 46), Clucas (Benning 13), McDermott, Scully (Hoole 60), Marquis (Lloyd 60) Subs not used: Harrison, Aneke, England, Gray.

Entertainment: ★★★ 

Referee: Thomas Parsons

Attendance: 3,570

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