Hill unhappy with keeper despite win
KEITH Hill’s pleasure at reaching the second round of the FA Cup with a 2-1 win over Gateshed was tempered by a couple of on-field issues.
Firstly, the Dale chief felt his side fell into cruise control when they went two goals up midway through the first half after an own goal from Jon Mellish and Ian Henderson’s 100th goal for the club.
And his frustration was compounded by a couple of slips from goalkeeper Brandon Moore, one of which handed Mellish a 49th-minute goal to set up a tense second half.
“From a mental point of view, 2-0 can be a dangerous scoreline,” he said. “We showed plenty of energy in the first half to break the opponents down and when we did, it’s as if we went into cruise control and that’s very dangerous. I tried to pre-warn the players at half-time but we fell into the trap.
“Regardless of whatever trap we fell into, our keeper has got to save that shot. He was lucky to get away with one in the first half.
“Fair credit to the opponents in the second half, they responded well to being two goals down. They should have been dead and buried with respect to what I expect from my team, but I didn’t get it.
“I am really not happy with the goalkeeping situation, we are letting in too many silly goals whether it’s Brandon, Josh Lillis or Magnus Norman in goal.” It was fitting skipper Henderson’s goal proved decisive, marking his landmark achievement for the club on the day it was confirmed he’s going to be a father for the first time.
“It’s up there with one of the best achievements of my life,” he said of the goal.