'Kick in teeth' in first game for Lancaster City boss Jimmy Marshall

Just 48 hours after joining his hometown club from Kendal Town, Marshall saw the Dolly Blues lose 1-0 at home to Whitby Town on Saturday, Layton Watts snatching the points with a penalty in the fifth minute of stoppage-time.

Having taken one point from their last four games, Lancaster are three places and four points clear of the bottom four, with Whitby now just a point behind them..

Three of City’s last four fixtures are against teams below them, with bottom club Blyth Spartans visiting Giant Axe this Saturday.

“If you were writing a script it wouldn't have been that,” said Marshall of his first game at the helm, joined by his Kendal assistant Gav Clark and coach Lee Marshall.

“We have to dust ourselves down and go again in another massive game. Everyone will expect us to beat Blyth, which will give it an added edge.

“We'll use this as fuel to get positive results in the next four. They seem a great set of lads, they are all together and we need that because nobody is going to give us anything.”

Marshall's appointment last Thursday came just over a month after the departure of Chris Willcock and ended captain Sam Bailey’s four-game spell as interim boss.

Marshall added: “We created the better openings but towards the end we ran out of a bit of steam and just made a bad mistake. It was in added time of added time and it's a kick in the teeth.

"We put enough in to deserve a draw. We looked comfortable but then pressed the self-destruct button.”

Marshall arrived at Kendal in the summer of 2022 – following their relegation from the NPL – having led Milnthorpe Corinthians to the West Lancashire League First Division Title. He left the Mintcakes sixth in the Northern League after being granted permission to speak to Lancaster.

Supporters can vote for their player and goal of the season via the club's social media platforms. Winners will be announced during the end-of-season awards at Lancaster Cricket Club on Easter Monday.