Another late kick in the teeth as Royalists concede in the 93rd minute Windsor FC
For the past three or four weeks Windsor’s players and management team have been given a late kick in the teeth, and manager Mark Cooper is starting to wonder when his players will be rewarded for their hard work in training and matches.
On Saturday, the Royalists were beaten in the final seconds of injury-time, Holmer Green grabbing a second goal to claim a 2-1 win in what had been an even contest at Stag Meadow.
Billy Montague’s third minute opener was cancelled out by two strikes from Jethro Odomusu, the second of them coming in the 93rd minute.
The result leaves them 11th in the Hellenic Premier Division. The rub of the green had gone against them, as it has for the past few weeks in Cooper’s opinion. Two weeks ago, they lost 3-2 against Fairford having been 2-1 up going into the closing stages, while at Binfield last week they held a two goal lead heading into second half stoppage time but only managed to pick up a point.
Cooper maintains his side isn’t playing that badly and is much improved on last season. But, whatever the reasons for the side’s late capitulations, he knows that results need to improve quickly.
“That’s the third weekend on the spin that we’ve conceded with pretty much the last kick of the game,” he said.
“It’s cost us points. Fairford a few weeks ago when we lost to the last kick having been 2-1 up. Then at Binfield last week, you know the story there, and then Saturday again, we lost to the last
Windsor were beaten 2-1 by Holmer Green. Ref: 133098- 22 kick of the game. It’s difficult to take.
“We could have won on Saturday. I don’t think we played particularly well, but we had chances to win the game at 1-1. That’s what makes it so difficult to take. We certainly haven’t had the rub of the green as every league game we’ve lost this season has been by one goal.
“So, we’ve competed against everyone but the final minutes in games have gone against us. That’s where we are but we very much want to change that going forward.”
Cooper believes he has improved the squad from last season and feels it’s only a matter of time before results start falling for them and they start climbing the table. They’ve played – and narrowly lost to – some the top sides in the division so he’s targeting ‘a good number of points’ from the matches through to the end of November, starting this weekend at Shrivenham.
“The squad is better than last season,” he said. “It’s improved by a good distance to what we had last season.
“I think we played well at Fairford and very well at Binfield, against two of the top sides in the division, and didn’t get what we deserved.
“On Saturday I thought we were average, but the result could have gone either way. It’s been a difficult run, but if we were losing 4-0 every week it would be a different story. We’re competing in every game but we’re just not getting the rewards for the work we’re putting in.
“We’ve got some games coming up which we feel we can be successful in.
“We’ve played the top teams in the division, but we’ve got a run now where we need to get the rewards for the hard work that’s been put in in previous weeks. Six or seven fixtures and we’re targeting a good number of points from them.
“We hope our luck changes pretty quickly. We’ve played the top teams and competed well. We haven’t been punished by any of those teams at the top end of the league. Clearly, we can compete with those teams, but we haven’t had the rub of the green. We’re still a work in progress but let’s see where we are by the end of November.”