Frustrated Day insists Boro draws could have been better
FARNBOROUGH were forced to settle for back-to-back draws in the National League South last week; an entertaining midweek stalemate with Torquay United preceded a 1-1 draw at play-off chasing Hampton & Richmond Borough on Saturday.
Tuesday last week’s point against The Gulls was watched by a crowd just shy of the 1,000 mark and Boro left feeling hard done by after having two strong penalty appeals turned away. A superb performance from visiting goalkeeper Mark Halstead ensured the game ended in a draw.
The Yellows had a short trip to Greater London last weekend, taking on Mel Gwinnett’s Beavers.
Farnborough were awarded a penalty 10 minutes into the game when Dean Inman fouled Jordan Norville-Williams inside the box. The usually reliable Aaron Kuhl stepped up but blasted his spot-kick down the middle, which goalkeeper Adam Desbois was happy to keep out having stood his ground.
Hampton & Richmond Borough opened the scoring 10 minutes into the second half. The hosts broke down the right and striker Jake Gray was able to cut inside and bend a left-footed strike low into the near post.
In the second of six minutes of additional time, Boro bagged a late equaliser. Midfielder Olly Pendlebury tried his luck with a powerful shot from distance that was spilled by Desbois, allowing striker Hady Ghandour the chance to slide the ball into the net.
“It was the minimum we deserved,” Boro boss Spencer day said of th Hampton draw. “It was a little bit like Tuesday in a way that we’ve actually come away disappointed. I thought we played the better football. We had so many set pieces and plays into the box.
“I thought we got ourselves into good areas many times and our final ball was poor. You think you’re going to get done. It was a poor goal from our perspective. We switched off, the ball goes on the inside and we’re a goal down. The only things they had were two counter-attacks to our long throw. I thought we were the better side. We got nothing from the officials again. I thought he was poor again, inconsistent, there was a terrible challenge and he was booking us for anything, but we got what we deserved. It feels like a win when you equalise at the end. Heavy pitch, but I have to say a wonderful pitch. It was very, very wet and not easy for both teams to play. A point was the minimum we deserved.
“I’ve got to be critical and go: you can’t have that many entries into the last third and not work the keeper more. This is before you talk about a missed penalty. The keeper’s made a great save. Look, any away point at this level is good. I’m actually coming away thinking that should have been another three points.”
And Day confirmed striker Hisham Kasimu’s loan move to Boro has turned into a permanent set up.
“We’ve done a deal with Sutton,” Day said. “We’ve helped out Hish, who is now our player. It’s no longer a loan. We’re going to manage him. We’ve got eight weeks left of the season, there’s no rush.
“We’re going to look at the situation and try and help him, because he’s not right. We started him on Tuesday to have a really good look. We had an option of terminating the loan, so we’re grateful to Sutton.
“We really want to help him, he’s a fabulous lad. We want to get the old Hish back and give him the space and time he needs.
“He’s very keen to be here. We will give him time and see how he develops in the coming weeks.”
Runaway league leaders Yeovil Town make the trip to Farnborough on Saturday.