‘THERE ARE LESSONS TO LEARN’
Captain says mistakes at this level are costly
ACCRINGTON Stanley captain Seamus Conneely admits his side were like ‘a rabbit in the headlights’ at times during their 2-0 defeat at home to Gillingham on Saturday.
The Reds struggled to compete with their opponents in the first half, and despite improving in the second half, they were unable to get back into the game. It was Accrington’s first ever game in the third tier of English football, and Conneely says the players are now well aware of how life in League One will be.
“There are lessons to be learned. We were caught out in the first half, we were like a rabbit in headlights, and we were probably lucky to be just 2-0 down at half-time,” he told the club’s official website.
“In the second half, we were better, we upped our game but we have learnt, at this level, mistakes are costly. If you make a mistake you get punished in League One and we were.
“We are also disappointed to lose our unbeaten home record in this year. Home form is important in any division as we showed last season, our home form played a massive part in us going up.
“Gillingham went 2-0 and let us have more of the ball in the second half and soaked up any pressure we threw at them.
“I think we have also learnt that, in League One, the first goal is even more crucial than last season.
“They did to us what we did to teams last year – got the first goal and then soaked up the pressure and hit teams on the break.”
Stanley had a bit of disruption in the build up to the game, as Janoi Donacien left the club to join Ipswich Town, while the club also turned down bids for Kayden Jackson, but Conneely isn’t using that as an excuse.
“It goes with the territory. When the team is successful, bigger clubs come looking. We knew it would happen,” he said.
“The gaffer and Jimmy (Bell) kept us focused on the game though so there are no excuses. It’s just a shame we have seven days until the next game but we will be raring to go at Bristol Rovers.”
One positive in the game against Gillingham was that teenager Ross Sykes made his league debut for the club, starting alongside Mark Hughes in defence having impressed throughout pre-season, and Conneely was proud to see one of the youngsters getting a chance.
He sad: “It’s great that a lad has come through from the youth team into the first team. He is learning, but we are all learning in this league.”