Dominating, but difficulty with even the basics
ONCE again County dominate yet fail to take all three points at home, just as we did against Guiseley, Alfreton and Boston! We‘re lacking that killer instinct that I thought we’d found last week against Corby and it baffles me how one week things “click” while the following Saturday, the same players are having difficulty doing the basics.
Hereford will not the greatest team to visit EP this season, their form has been shocking in recent weeks and their goals for column hasn’t had an entry for ages, so you’d think with our recent run of results this would have been a simple affair but no, while we dominated the mid-field for the whole game that little bit of nouce was sadly missing, Osborne, Thomas, Walker, Warburton and Stephenson all at times had the freedom of the Park but never once did that telling pass arrive. When the lads, ably abetted by Duxbury and Cowens, did manage to beat their man, the cross was either too long or behind for a goal kick, which meant that, with all that dominance the Bulls keeper had a quiet afternoon. The only thing he had to do was catch the odd corner ball and then lay on top of it to waste a few precious seconds.
The second half was in the same vein as the first, with one exception, the visitors were given a free kick and the scored with their first effort on target, totally against the run of play but that was their game plan, containment, break, containment and we played right into their hands. Far too often we made the wrong decisions, shooting wildly when a simple touch across the box could have resulted in a goal. Players taking an extra touch rather than shoot first time, which meant that we were the masters of our own downfall once again but fairs fair and the lads never gave up. We were given a penalty and Mulhern equalised with venom and from there we upped the pressure but ultimately to no avail, the referee allowed the time wasting, even after warning their keeper twice! He allowed their game plan to continue but even though the final few minutes were hectic and all one way we couldn’t force the issue and we ended the game dropping more valuable points. Fingers crossed for the cup, Altrincham will be a much sterner test and I think we’ll need all our guns firing in unison.