No dwelling on frustrating loss: Dempsey

DAVE Dempsey described Widnes’ 2-1 defeat to Leek Town as “a frustrating one” that he’s keen to move on from.

Tim Grice’s goal 10 minutes from time handed Widnes a first defeat in five after John McGrath had cancelled out Dan Trickett-Smith’s first half opener eight minutes beforehand.

Trickett-Smith’s goal was the first that the Whites have conceded in over 500 minutes of football, and Dempsey is keen for a reaction from his players moving forward.

“The lads are frustrated. It showed in their body language when they came off the pitch,” Dempsey said.

“We’ve just got to dust the cobwebs off and train well on

Tuesday. We’ve been on a good run but it’s about not getting too high when you win and not getting too low when you lose.

“The boys have worked hard to get themselves back into the game.

We’ve scored a deflected free-kick so we haven’t opened them up but to be 1-1 and then concede such a poor goal rankles a bit.

“I thought it was offside but have since been told otherwise so it must have been a close call but we know what we need to improve on moving forward.

“We’ve been unbelievably good defensively in recent games so I’ll write today off as a bit of a one-off.”

Dempsey highlighted key moments in the game and felt that Leek’s superior cutting edge in front of goal was ultimately the difference.

“Football’s all about moments and fine margins. You can control a game for 93 minutes and not win,” Dempsey added.

“Owen Wheeler has probably kept us in the game in the first half but we have had chances. I think today could have swung either way to be fair.

“I think Leek just had the bit of quality in front of goal. Hopefully that will come. It’s not one to dwell on.

“We’ll dust ourselves off and go again. I don’t think you can criticise any individual on that pitch certainly after the four weeks or so that they’ve given me as a collective.

“We’ve come up against a good side and been beaten narrowly. We’ll take the positives.”