Magpies might have felt the pressure, says Peters

Maidenhead United have been desperate to reach their target of 50 points and safety in the National League this season, but signs show that they may be putting too much pressure on themselves, writes Craig Culley.

On Monday, Alan Devonshire’s men lost to an in-form Torquay United – who are also looking to secure National League football for another season - with the sides now separated by only six points and the Gulls having a crucial game in hand.

Magpies assistant manager, Ryan Peters (below), didn’t have much praise for his side’s display, saying post-match: “This was a chance to accumulate enough points to know we are safe for next year. We were against a side that have won their last three so we knew it was going to be tough but, forget the scoreline, that performance was dreadful today.

“On the back of a 45 minute half against Solihull where we were also dreadful, we were hoping for more but we didn’t get that today.”

Torquay were keen to flex their muscles and try to make it four wins on the bounce, and so started in dominant fashion.

It was the away side who had the lion’s share of the ball and the chances, testing Maidenhead goalkeeper, Alexis Andre Jr during the early stages of the first half.

The Magpies had a significant opportunity to take the lead as top scorer, Emile Acquah, rounded Gulls ‘keeper Mark Halstead in the 10th minute, but was unable to convert from a tight angle.

On the stroke of half-time, the away side got themselves in front through Jarvis’ close-range header and they continued to capitalise on Maidenhead’s lack of focus as just two minutes into the second half, Frank Nouble doubled their lead with a superb lob over Andre Jr, who could only stand and watch.

The final nail in the coffin for the home side came in the 71st minute, as Nouble proved to be in the right place at the right time to bag his brace with a low driven shot into the bottom right corner.

Substitute, Shawn McCoulsky, provided a glimmer of hope when he slotted home from a one-onone, but it proved to be too little too late as the Gulls saw the game out and took three important points back to Devon.

“Sometimes you look at it and think maybe there was a little bit too much edge around the game – you know, us trying to get ourselves safe. I don’t know,” said Peters.

“What I do know is that there are only six points between us and them now and they’ve got a game in hand. If there is ever a time to pull our socks up and try and get a win, it’s now.

“Even though we didn’t play very well, we could have taken one of the chances we had. They scored just before half-time and it took the wind out of our sails a little bit. The second half, we thought we’d push on a little bit like we did at Solihull but we didn’t. They scored again, and it was an uphill battle after that.

“They slowed the game down really well when they had to. They were really, really good at wasting time, game management, however you look at it. Had we been in the same situation, we would have done the same thing.

“We can’t complain too much about it but it was a frustrating match to play.”