Jones seeking a swift reaction from Puritans after opening-day defeat

The new-look Puritans conceded three second-half goals as they suffered a 3-0 home defeat to Spennymoor Town on the opening day of the Vanarama National League North campaign.

It was far from an ideal start for new boss Jones in his first league game at the helm.

But he insists he and his squad will be working hard to produce the right response at Scarborough on Saturday before they face another away-day at Gloucester City next Tuesday night.

“Obviously, you don’t want to lose your opening game at home,” Jones said.

“We’ve had a look back at the game and there were some good moments, it wasn’t by any means a dreadful performance from start to finish.

“Spennymoor showed a little bit more experience and knowhow than us at times and with us having a completely new squad playing their first competitive game together, there was always going to be a question of how we were going to get on.

“While you do the best you can in pre-season and try to have competitive games, it’s not quite the same as a league game.

“There was a sense of trepidation and, unfortunately, we came out on the wrong end of it.

“But there’s no need to be completely downhearted or to overreact to it.

“There were positives and what you are always looking for is a reaction.

“In the next game, you want to try to bounce back and that’s all we can try to do.

“We will look forward to the next game and make sure we are in a positive mindset for the trip to Scarborough.”

Reflecting further on that opening-day loss, Jones added: “Having watched the game back, after we conceded the first goal early in the second half we actually did alright for the next 10 minutes or so. The reaction wasn’t too bad at all.

“Unfortunately, we got done on a counter-attack for the second when we were putting them under a bit of pressure.

“Then, stupidly, we conceded a penalty two minutes after the second goal and that was game over really.

“We will have the boys in this week and we will look at things we need to do better in the game. We have got to get a few things right.”