Port fail to get Rub of the green
Holyport FC: Lock admits this isn't a time for hard luck stories
They might not have got the rub of the green in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Reading City, but Holyport's assistant boss Sam Lock says this isn't the time for hard luck stories as Port seek to ensure their Combined Counties Premier Division North future.
Saturday's result, and CB Hounslow United's unexpected 1-0 win at Spelthorne Sports, has seen Port drop back to the bottom of the division by just a point with two matches to play.
Their survival hopes are still in their own hands, with Port having two games left to play against Wokingham & Emmbrook at home and Southall away and CB Hounslow having just one, away to North Greenford United.
However, they must now pick up a win from at least one of those final games to have a chance of jumping back above Hounslow and claiming survival in the dying embers of the season.
“We expected to be in the relegation battle until the end,” he said. “It's no shock for us to be there and deservedly so. In the first half of the season, we just ultimately weren't ready for step five football, and it's taken us a long time to change the dynamics of the team and get used to that.”
Port were the better side against City at Summerleaze, carving out several chances to take the lead after Ashley Hunt scored in the 24th minute to cancel out Reading's early opener.
They were also denied what looked a blatant penalty in the final minutes, a decision which perplexed and infuriated manager Derek Sweetman in equal measure.
They'll be hoping they get a little of the lady luck they were missing on Saturday when Wokingham & Emmbrook visit Summerleaze Park on Monday morning (11.30am kick-off)., and, having beaten Ascot United and Edgware Town in recent weeks, Lock believes they're playing well enough to stay up this season.
He said: “You get punished at this level giving away the smallest of chances, but it’s still in our hands.
“We’ve got to avoid finishing bottom to
stay in the league and we’ve got a big game against Wokingham now.
“We were very good. We made one mistake and they scored.
“We had five or six chances and we took one. The referee was poor, he should have given us a penalty.
“It was a very strange performance on his behalf; however, you get that, and we are where we are, deservedly so, and now it’s up to the players to see if they want it enough against Wokingham.
“Do I think we can get the points we need to stay in the league, 100 per cent, the performance was good against Reading City, and I think if we can take that into Wokingham, or play to near that level, we'll come away with the points. It's going to go to the wire.
He added: “I've said to the boys, this is where you learn stuff.
“They’ll come on massively because of this. It’s now down to them to show what they’re made of and be a big game player. We can say ‘we don’t want to put pressure on them’, but you can’t do that now when the games really matter.
“It’s time for big players to step up. We’ve been reliant on Ash (Hunt) up front and we know if we create chances for him, he’ll score. I think he now has 11 in 15 starts this year. It’s a very good record considering he only gets one or two opportunities a game if that. It was a very good performance, and the boys will go into Monday’s game and give it everything.
“We said to the boys before the game, it’s about us, it’s not about CB Hounslow and their results. We can only control what we can control. For the group of boys, they’ve performed well in a pressurised situation.
“On Saturday we controlled the game but made one tiny little error.
“Our keeper has had one save to make, their keeper had five or six. We deserved to win it, but there’s no time for hard luck stories when you’re fighting down at the bottom. We’ve been performing well; we beat Ascot United 3-0 and Edgware Town 20, so it’s still in our hands.”