Following a goalless draw with Dorking Wanderers, manager Chris Millington spoke to Shaymen TV to give his thoughts on the game.
“It was largely a game of two halves,” Millington said. “We were dominant, and I felt that we controlled the first half, we should’ve gone into the break ahead. In the second half, I would say that Dorking probably shaded it. I thought that they played some good football. They changed their tactics and went more direct. They looked to get the ball forward quicker and pressed our press. They got a bit of success out of it;they got some second balls outside the box in the second half but also we had a number of good chances to finish the game off.
“I think that over the 90 minutes we should’ve won it. We had control in the first half: seven corners, five long throws, several free kicks into their box, a few counter attacks, and we nicked it high up the pitch and have gone on to be one v one. We had a couple of really good chances in the second half as well. Credit to their keeper because if it wasn’t for him then I think we would’ve had a similar scoreline to Tuesday night.
I am disappointed with the fact that we’ve not won it but as Paul Oakes (the goalkeeper coach) pointed out, if you can’t win then don’t lose. We’ve had a few games recently were we’ve not deserved to lose but we’ve come away the one side of a 1-0. We go away content with the point, but we are also aware that it could’ve been 3-0.”
No changes were made from the side that beat Wealdstone 5-0 on Tuesday night.
“The lads earned the right to get another start,” Millington told Shaymen TV. “There are some lads that played significant minutes on Tuesday and had an incredible output (such as Fidel O’Rourke and Jamie Cooke) who arguably could’ve been used off the bench after seeing the numbers they put in- in terms of running stats. However, it was a similar type of opposition as they were looking to build from the back and with the way we structured the high press we felt that the same personnel would do a good job today. For the first 45 minutes, that was the case although Dorking are a really good possession side.
“Dorking have achieved 73% of their points at home so they are clearly a difficult side to play at home. We knew if we got our structure right and pressed well then, we were going to create chances because they are open on the counter, and we did do that. It’s disappointing that the hard work and the plan didn’t result in goals and points. As I say, it’s a difficult place to come and to come away with the draw there’s no shame in that.”
Town had the most chances of the two sides but couldn’t get it over the line due to an exceptional performance from Daniel Lincoln.
“I think that was the difference today,” Millington explained. “The fans who travelled down today will attest to the fact that there was no shortage of effort in terms of trying to finish off those chances. There was no shortage of good play from the Dorking ‘keeper.
“The fans were phenomenal today I was surprised with the numbers, I’m not sure exactly how many travelled but they packed out their side of the ground. They really backed the lads today and got behind them, it really encouraged them. Hopefully they will share with the fans that weren’t here just how many successes we had in terms of winning the ball back up the pitch, creating chances, the number of set pieces we earnt, and the danger we carried with those. The Dorking ‘keeper is the player that made the difference today and kept the score at nil nil.”
The Shaymen are next in action on Tuesday night when they travel to Gateshead.
“They’re not a dissimilar team to Dorking and Wealdstone,” Millington said. “They like to be on the ball and they have some good technical players. For the most part, they like to build through the thirds. Although, since we last played the, they will be willing to be a bit more direct in going from back to front a little bit earlier. We have found some solutions to that and, dare I say it, have hit a little bit of form since the Maidenhead performance so we go into that game with some confidence.
“The group that we are rolling out, subs included, are phenomenal in terms of the positivity they have and they way they have dealt with the pressure that has been in and around the club. We have an excellent group of men that have been fantastic with their approach to everything, with hat we are going to go a long way.”
Watch the full interview on Shaymen TV right now
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