Rebels ‘can’t afford to feel sorry for themselves’
Slough Town FC: Davies feels side have been harshly treated in recent matches but says they must move on
Scott Davies insists Slough Town’s players can’t afford to feel sorry for themselves after a string of poor decisions went against them in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Eastbourne Borough.
The Rebels came into the clash looking to register their first league win in four matches, having lost momentum in their play-off challenge following the abandonment of their clash with Bath City back on March 2.
However, their hopes of a restorative home victory weren’t helped by the match officials who twice ruled out goals by Slavi Spasov in the first half when the striker was onside.
Davies called one of those decisions ‘the worst he’d ever seen’ with Spasov at least two ‘three yards onside’ when he ran in to touch home Josh Jackman’s shot on the goal line.
A victory would have seen the Rebels close the gap on rivals for a top seven finish this season, however, the hosts had to settle for a point against an Eastbourne side who grimly held onto the lead given to them after only two minutes by Moussa Diarra. It took the Rebels until the 79th minute to force a leveller through Leon Chambers-Parillon and, while the two offside decisions probably prevented them from claiming a deserved three points, Davies said the players must also look at themselves for the chances they missed.
Speaking with Connor McNeish for sloughtownfc.net after the final whistle, he said: “Obviously, we’re disappointed not to win the game,” he said. “I think we had plenty of chances to do that. I think the way we had to play the game meant that we were showing levels of desperation, trying to flood bodies forward and whatnot. It became a bit of a basketball match.
“At home we like to have more control of the ball, but at times it seemed a little bit rushed, and a little bit forced at times. But ultimately, we had a goal of keeping our unbeaten run going, which is great, but we’re gutted not to get the three points because we had plenty of chances.
“Having said that, Dan Lincoln also made some
superb saves so credit to Lincs.
“But, as you’ve just alluded, both goals that we’ve seen today that were disallowed were both onside. One of them is possibly the worst decision I’ve ever seen.
“Slavi is three yards onside, he’s not even in the camera shot when Josh (Jackman) has touched the ball. And I'm thinking, where is he? When is he coming into the shot?
“I’m laughing about it now, but I’m gutted about it. I just went and spoke to the ref and the referee has said, ‘listen, I must back my linesman. I can’t be seen to go against him.
“I understand now, I’ve seen it, I’ve looked at it but there’s nothing I can do about it’
“But yeah, it doesn’t mean enough for them to get the decisions right. There will be no sanctions for them, but the sanction for us is that we’ve possibly dropped two points today because of that decision. Going 2-1 up in the first half would have changed the direction of the game, however, it is what it is. We still had plenty of chances to go and win the game.
The result sees the side drop to 12th in the National League South table, however, they’re actually a point closer to the play-off places with just seven points separating them from St Albans City in seventh. The result also saw the Rebels extend their unbeaten run at Arbour Park to 20 matches in all competitions.
No decision has yet been taken as to when – or whether – the Rebels will replay their game against Bath City which was abandoned in the 70th minute on March 2 when a supporter in the crowd took unwell. The home side were leading 4-2 at the time and although the supporter recovered relatively quickly, Bath City’s manager Jerry Gill refused to allow his players to resume the game leaving the referee with little alternative other than to abandon the contest. Davies admits that day has had a derailing effect on their season.
“Over the last few home games, Bath, Yeovil and today. Yeovil was a good occasion, and it was nice to get a point, but the other two, they’ve really knocked the stuffing out of us,” added Davies.
“We’ve been harshly treated, and it’s derailed us. Since the Bath game the lads have been quite flat and we’ve tried to rally them and tried to get them through it, but every day they’re asking me questions ‘what’s happening? what’s going on with it’. And I don’t know the outcome, no one at the club knows. We were on a roll up until then and listen, we feel harshly treated and hard done by. But we’ve got to lick our wounds and carry on. We’ve got seven, possibly eight matches left, and we've got to try and get as many points as we can.”