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Tigers' true grit

30/12/2004

HYDE United boss Steve Waywell saluted his players' determination after they overcame a series of obstacles to defeat Witton Albion.

Already missing John O'Kane (pictured), Wayne Dean and Jamie Milligan, the Tigers saw Neil Tolson play 90 minutes while suffering from flu, Nicky Hill suffer concussion, Paul Jones come off injured and Matty McNeil play while mourning the death of his brother.

Unsuprisingly, Waywell admitted it was a display which owed more to character than anything else.

He said: "The circumstances we went through were unbelievable. Tolse shouldn't have played but we had no option - he said he would give us 45 minutes but ended up giving us 90.

"He couldn't run for the last 45 minutes, so it was an uphill task and I thought we defended fantastically well - it was true grit stuff. It wasn't the prettiest match to watch but sometimes you have to do these things when circumstances aren't in your favour.

"Matty was probable suffering more than anybody - he did look out of sorts which is understandable.

"I can't praise the team highly enough, we got bodies behind the ball quickly, rode our luck which you need to do and we got a good result in the end."

Unlike most of the area's teams, Hyde managed to play at the weekend, thanks in no small part to the work of their groundstaff.

Waywell was fulsome in his praise of their work.

He said: "The pitch was fantastic, I have no complaints about it at all. Our groundsman Charlie worked tremendously for two days and he's got to have a lot of praise for doing that.

"He's a fantastic groundsman and is the only one who's ever come to me and asked me what I want doing."

With four consecutive away games coming up starting at Radcliffe Borough on New Year's Day, O'Kane, Dean and Milligan will be back for Hyde.

However, Tolson, McNeil, Johnson and Jones appear definite absentees, while there are also doubts over Hill's return from concussion.