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Gary's View
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Match Report > Click Here
When you are at home and leading 3-1 with 5 minutes to go you would think we would go on and win the game, but we have to take a positive from the fact we haven’t lost against a decent side.
However, the team like everyone else were clearly disappointed, but I told them afterwards that out of the three games we have played, that was our best display so far.
Looking back at it, the penalty that lead to the Salisbury opener was soft and was given against Liam Nicell for a push. I felt the referee had actually missed two decent penalty shouts for us before hand, but you just have to accept it.
We certainly matched Salisbury during the first-half so I was delighted that we went in at 1-1 courtesy of the header from Craig Hammond in stoppage time. Ashley Fuller must be given a lot of credit because he has delivered a magnificent cross from the right hand side, and Craig met the opportunity really well.
At half-time I told the lads that we were in a good position, and if we played at the same tempo and with the same discipline, we had every chance of getting a result.
The strike from Ash Fuller for the second was superb. I was delighted with it and also his all round contribution was excellent too, he did really well for us yesterday.
In terms of the substitution, I took Kolodynski off to give us a bit more height up front. I felt that John Sands could offer us that, and he did OK for us and had a hand in the third goal. He provided a great pass for Hammond, who took his second really well.
As I said at the beginning, at 3-1 it should have been all over. However, you could see that Salisbury just turned the screw in the last 5 minutes. You have to give them credit for this, as many teams would have just thrown the towel in, so they clearly have a never say die attitude in their team. They got a sniff of a chance with their second and were lucky in some respects that it hit the underside of the bar, and we just didn’t have numbers there to clear it.
As for the 3rd, we should have dealt with the cross, but didn’t, and were poor at the far post. As a result, it presented the opportunity for Clarke, who bundled it home. I feel that to eradicate some of these errors we are in need of a bit more height in the side, and that’s something I’m looking to sort out.
We have to take heart from the fact that before coming to Cambridge, Salisbury hadn’t conceded in their first two matches and we have managed to put three past them, so that has to be a positive.
Another positive was the performance of Joey Abbs. I thought he had a fantastic game. He’s technically a good footballer, is calm on the ball, and produced a really sound performance for us.
We have to move on now and look forward to the Hednesford game on Tuesday night. I feel this will be the toughest game out of the four that we have faced to start the season with. Although they have lost the likes of Barnett and Dyer from their squad, they have bought in Bellingham from Leamington, and have quality elsewhere, and I feel on paper they are going to be one of the serious contenders at the end of the season.
On the injury front, James Krause will still not be fit, so I shall probably go with what we had on Saturday, and will be looking for the same level of performance for what will be another tough game for us.
Looking back on the first week of the season, I have to be happy with our return. Five points from three tough games is something I would have taken before the Brackley game last Saturday, and although we remain unbeaten the team know that they will have to be at their best on Tuesday night if that is to continue.
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