A Fair Result?

Hi guys!

I hope everyone is okay!

A 1-1 draw to report on. A fair result? Possibly, but naturally as a biased manager I thought that we did just about enough to nick all three 3 points.

Leiston are a very good outfit but, like many clubs these days, they took the opportunity to get into the refs ear as much as possible. I recognise that this is part and parcel of the game these days and  I accept that, but personally I don’t like it. It’s so widespread now and has integrated itself into the game at all levels. A strong set of match officials are needed to curb and control this sort of behaviour. Last night’s referee was generally okay. I can’t personally comment on the ‘big’ decisions because I didn’t see either handball incident that were given as penalties. However, the one incident I did see was the one for us that wasn’t given in the second half. I believe it was but I understand the choices and difficulties faced by the officials. It’s so tough for them now.

Looking at the game as a whole, when we were on top we could have possibly scored but for me the general attitude of our boys was that of a determined mood and we took the ‘front foot’ right from the start.

It was a great response to our somewhat lack lustre performance on Saturday at Nuneaton so definitely a sign of progress for me.

At this stage I want to take this opportunity to make a few special mentions to our players. Lewis Williams in my opinion came in at a very hard time on Saturday and continued at a high level against Leiston on Tuesday. Max Bustamante worked his socks off and when called upon the subs, Joel, Jarid and Shaun, all contributed in a very positive way. I’ve said before in previous blogs that the whole squad is key to any success.

I’m sure at times supporters will question my / our choices with selection and substitutions but at times the ‘bigger  picture’ has to be looked at. When players like Spyros and Lewis are on bookings we have to make tough choices – do we keep them on the pitch or try and protect them by bringing them off? An avoidable to sending off would have surely killed us!

To sum up the opening 3 games of this campaign we’ve had 1 win, 1 loss and 1 draw. An average start and pretty solid.
We now have a very hard away game coming up against the current league leaders, and one of the favourites for the title, Coalville. They are a very good team and we will have to be at our best. But as long as we can focus on our performances and produce then we can surprise a few!

On the injury front we still have issues with Isa Rotimi and Ed Asafu-Adjaye, as well as new injuries in Jay Rolfe and James Brighton. It’s not great but like all teams we have to deal with it.

Once again, thanks for the support on Tuesday night!

Onwards and upwards!

Cheers

Steve C