Bold calls, big reward: Interim manager's decisive changes drive Magpies to victory

Ryan Peters has shown himself to be a proactive interim boss in the few weeks he’s been leading the team since Alan Devonshire’s departure.

If things are not to his liking, or the team isn’t performing to expectations, he won’t wait around to see if those problems will fix themselves.

Against Horsham a few weeks ago and again against Enfield Town at York Road on Saturday, Peters showed a ruthlessness, as well as a keen eye for what’s going wrong and what needs changing.

On Saturday, the 41st minute dismissal of Towners’ midfielder Ruaridh Donaldson certainly helped the Magpies cause, but they were still playing with a lack of tempo and guile in the first period – perhaps caused by an unwanted two-week break from competitive football.

On loan striker Jaiden Celestine Charles was given five minutes to show he could turn around an indifferent first half display and, when that wasn’t forthcoming, he was substituted in the 53rd minute for Sam Barratt. An injury to Miles Welch-Hayes also handed David Mantle the chance to make his first appearance after joining on loan from Coventry in the week, and those changes helped the Magpies make inroads into the Towners’ tiring defence.

Liam Dulson smashed the hosts level after a crucial challenge from Mantle on Lamar Reynolds close to the half-way line. Barratt then sealed a comfortable win for the Magpies as he slammed home the second from the penalty spot and pounced to score the third after Dulson and Josh Popoola had both seen shots blocked.

Speaking afterwards, Peters said: “It’s always tough when a team sits so low on their block. They limited the space and typically, when we had a bit more space, we were a little bit more free flowing. It was tough in the first half and what I found most frustrating is that we kept on passing in front of Enfield.

“We told them about that at half time and made sure everybody knew that this was pretty much the same situation that we had against Slough. We knew that we could be really frustrated come the end of the game.

“But we were much better in the second half. Of course, it sometimes helps when they go down a man, but we made the most of it today.”

On making early second half changes, Peters added: “Essentially, they’ve had 50 minutes to make it work, and if it’s not working, I don’t think we can leave it too much longer.

“What I will say is that we haven’t played in two weeks, and because of that, naturally, you’re not going to be a free flowing as you’d normally be. It’s not an excuse I know, but we got there in the end and now we’ve had this game, hopefully we should see the flow start to come in a bit more.

“The first goal is very good. If you give Liam Dulson half a yard, he’s going to punish most teams. The lack of space in the first half made it more difficult for him and others to get shots away.

“But we were able to move him a little bit wider and get him more space. And when he gets opportunities, he usually takes them. When that first goal goes in, they open up a bit more because they’ve got to try and get a goal back and that allows us to play a bit more.”

The result was the Magpies sixth win in eight matches and moves them to within three points of the play-off places. The interim boss knows he’ll have to rotate his squad and mix up his tactics more in the coming weeks as the schedule intensifies.

They have a week to prepare for Saturday’s game at Chesham United but have a hectic schedule on the horizon through February and March and Peters will need fresh minds and legs to stay the course for a play-off finish – their stated aim this season.

Peters added: “Sammy Barratt coming on also helped us against Enfield. We can play Sammy in a host of positions, and he had a hand in a few of the goals as well. From the back end of February, right the way through to the end of March, we have got Saturday/Tuesday games. We’ve got to get as many boys as many minutes as possible, because we’re going to have to rotate for these matches. We’ve got to mount as many wins as possible to ensure we finish in the play-offs.

“The pleasing thing is that we changed shape and we got better. We know now that we’ve got a variety of strategies that we can implement to get a win. Saturday is a tough game.

“We didn’t play too well against them in the first game of the season, so we know how tough it’s going to be.

“But we also remember these things so hopefully that motivates us a little bit more.”