Southport manager Liam Watson has praised his side after they continued their impressive away form.
Jack Bainbridge’s first-half strike was enough for the Yellows to pick up their third straight away win which took them up to sixth.
It marked their third straight away win after a run of four consecutive trips away from Haig Avenue.
For Southport, it was six points in as many games after Niall Watson and Marcus Carver helped stun Kidderminster Harrierrs in a 2-0 win.
Speaking to Off The Park, he said: “I think any win is a great win away from home, Kiddy are one of the four fancied teams.
“What I would say about it, I think it was a deserved win, their manager was quick to say that so says all you need to know about the performance.
“The squad from Kidderminster, Jack Doyle was outstanding, Declan was Declan – very good all the time – we brought Michael Carberry and Chris Doyle, Charlie Munro come in [against Spennymoor].
“You see the likes of Josh Hmami, Declan and Jack Doyle dropping to the bench and they’re accepting it, there’s that many games coming thick and fast, we’ve got to look at what’s right, look after the players in the right way.
“The good thing is, I know they can come in and do a job, two great wins, six points, since Tony McMillan has come in it’s three clean sheets in three games.”
Watson was pleased all around with their display in the North East on Tuesday, he added: ‘I don’t think we were under the cosh at any stage, they hit the post in the first-half but Tony hasn’t had a shot to save in the whole 90.
“He’s come for a few crosses and swept well which is what we does but he hasn’t had a save to make, that probably tells you how strong the structure of the side was, how well we did it so that’s pleasing.
“It was a great goal from our point of view, they tried to play out, be a bit clever, we’ve robbed it, Jack’s gone clean through and a really good finish, a good goal to win any game, where we are, we like to press, it couldn’t have worked any better.
“I’m made up for some of the lads who come in and started, Carbo, Doyley, really, really good.”
On-loan striker Marcus Carver has entered the second month of his two-month loan with Southport.
It remains to be seen whether he will extend at Haig Avenue or return to parent club Scunthorpe United, who have continued to struggle in the National League.
The Southport boss expressed his intent to keep Carver beyond his initial return but believes their options now are better than they were after his departure in January.
He said: “You need a Marcus Carver to make the others come into the game so it’s no surprise to me that Jack Bainbridge is scoring goals since Marcus is here, Niall is, Tyler is, Marcus is scoring himself plus Archer is on a good run as well, he scored in back-to-back games, everyone around him started scoring.
“I think it’s only Michael Carberry in the whole squad who hasn’t scored a goal this season. It doesn’t really matter, once you enter the second month you’re always at a 24-hour recall stage, it is what it is.
“We’re in a different place than we were last year, Marcus went and then we looked like we lost a little bit of momentum but we’ve got Jordan, Connor Heath, we can bring Connor Woods back who’s scoring regularly for Warrington Town so we’ve got different options.”
Buxton visit Haig Avenue on Saturday as the Sandgrounders make their eagerly anticipated return home. After their recent run, Watson is pleased with the return but isn’t overlooking their next opposition.
He continued: “We’ve just got to treat every game, do what we need to do in terms of due diligence on them and we’ll train and get ready for Saturday. The home form has been good, we had three wins, a draw and a loss so it hasn’t been bad.
“Ten points in five games is championship form at home, away from home it hasn’t been but if you look now, we’ve gone to Boston, Kiddy, Spennymoor, Farsley and won, they’re not easy places to go and win so we’ve got to take it one game at a time.”
[Featured image: Julia Urwin – Southport FC]
