Southport manager Liam Watson revealed his delight after the Yellows fired four past Bradford Park Avenue.
The triumph made it three wins in three for Port, two in the National League North as they continue to enjoy an upturn in form following the return of a number of key players.
There were four different scorers on the scoresheet for the Sandgrounders as they followed on from their 1-0 win over Leamington. Jack Bainbridge kicked off proceedings with a superb strike as Tyler Walton, Charlie Oliver and Jordan Archer found the back of the net.
Watson was pleased to pick up maximum points from their last two and lauded his attacking threat, despite some chances going begging.
He told Off The Park: “I think following on from Leamington, we played well against Darlington, scored seven against Longridge – which is good for confidence, I understand we should score goals against them.
“We beat Leamington 1-0, but it should’ve been more than the one and we won 4-1 but it could’ve scored double the amount of goals. We’ve missed quite a lot of chances but the good thing is we’re creating chances, we look potent going forward.”
On the whole, there was a number of aspects of the performance that impressed the 52-year-old as five players were singled out for praise.
He added: “No, the whole intensity, work-rate of the team, if you look at the highlights you’re seeing at times you’ve got [Marcus] Carver, Archer, Niall [Watson] and Tyler [Walton] all up in the final third with [Jack] Bainbridge and Josh Hmami running through. It’s nice to see the amount of legs we’ve got.
The start to the campaign was far from ideal for the Yellows, despite beating Boston United and Darlington, as injuries halted their progression.
But Watson credited his experience for not rushing into any rash decisions. However, he now hopes that the two wins can be followed up.
“I’ve been around a long time as a manager, I’ve been in the league above where you go through bad spells, you don’t win for four, five, six or more sometimes and you can’t see where the next goal is coming from.
“It’s never been a case of that, I always knew when we had the players back in the team, all playing in the right positions, we are going to be a team that’s going to create chances and we’ve got to be a team who score goals – hopefully we can get on a run now.”
Off The Park understands Southport have identified a potential target and followed it up with an enquiry. On Friday, it was confirmed that attacker, Connor Woods, would sign for Northern Premier League side Warrington Town on a one-month loan.
“More competition in the final third, he [the target] can play across the middle which gives me more competition,” he added on their pursuit of incomings. He continued: “We could have one or two departures in the near future and if that’s the case, we’ll have a few reinforcements in place.
“There will be more reinforcements in placer the weekend because Jack Doyle and Chris Doyle will both be back in the squad, Chris had an infected wisdom tooth and Jack’s had a tight groin since the Longridge game so it will be nice to get them two back in the squad.”
Gloucester City recently announced that Steve King would be the new manager at the Tiger Turf Stadium.
Watson knows the strengths of the incoming manager but expects a tight-affair following an indifferent start made by both sides.
He continued: “Tough trip, new manager, he’s a manager who has a big book of players – he’s never found it hard to recruit players so I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few players in the building by the time Saturday come around.
“Can’t see it being open, they’re not scoring goals, they have had spells when they win 3-0 and lose 3-0, they have been inconsistent but they’re on the same points as us and we’ve been inconsistent as well.
“I’d like to think ours isn’t a total reflection because of the players we had missing but now they’re all back so you’d like to think a proper Southport can turn up and keep this run going.
“You’re just looking forward to the games once you’re winning, you’re looking forward to seeing the goals going in because whether you’re a player or a manager that’s what happens when confidence comes.
“When you’re on that run and think you’re flying, you’re going into the games thinking ‘get this one over and look to the next’ and I know it’s a cliche but that’s what happens.”
[Featured image: Julia Urwin – Southport FC]
