SIMON SMITH: Jordan has improved a great deal

I was getting regular updates from Nick Ingham and Graeme Young and made some suggestions to relay to Tom Harrison - but ultimately, it was in his hands and he did a great job.

It’s great to know that I can rely on so many fantastic people around me if or when I am away from games or training sessions.

I’ve heard we bombed a few opportunities to add to the scoreline and should’ve been out of sight by half-time, but the fact that we scored so late on just goes to show that the guys have maintained that belief that we can always pull that out of the bag.

Jordan Wakeham was awarded man of the match for the game, and I have been really impressed by his performances in the second half of the season.

He had a difficult start to the season and he’d be the first person to hold his hands up and admit that, but he has really impressed me since November and has gone from strength-to-strength.

Hopefully he can maintain that form now going into five huge games for our club as we bid to achieve unprecedented back-to-back promotions.

It is not going to be easy, that’s for sure, but we have been here before so the guys know what to expect.

I have been keeping an eye on the North One West table and as things stand, should we keep hold of second spot, we’d have home advantage in a promotion play-off, which would be huge for everyone at the club.

We can’t and won’t get ahead of ourselves though and must remain focused on the task at hand, starting with Consett at home this week.

From what I hear, we have a full quota barring the long-term absence of Tom Harrison, to select from, which is key heading into the final stretch.

I’d like to finish by mentioning Sam Peate, who has made his first-team debut appearances at the age of 34 over the last two weeks.

I know Sam usually struggles making training due to work commitments, but he has shifted things around to be able to get there and that shows a great hunger and commitment to the club.

He’s a great clubman and I’m really pleased for him that he’s reaping the rewards for his efforts.