Following FC Halifax Town’s 1-0 defeat away at Torquay United, manager Chris Millington spoke to Shaymen TV to give his thoughts on the game.
“It was a horrible game,” Millington said. “Horrible weather, horrible pitch, it was just a horrible day at the office.”
Town headed into the break level, having created a couple of chances but having had to defend plenty of set-pieces from Torquay.
“They were the better team tonight. They made more first contacts, they landed on more seconds, and they made the most of the conditions much better than we did. Torquay deserved the victory today.”
With poor conditions both prior and during the game, Town failed to adapt and Millington doesn’t want to use it as an excuse.
“They managed the conditions much better,” Millington said. “It’s a bitter pill to swallow given we’ve prepared well, they’ve not done anything we didn’t expect them to do. The analysis isn’t the issue, the preparation isn’t the issue, the performance is the problem and tonight it was sub-par.”
Torquay netted the only goal of the game from the second phase of a corner kick with Asa Hall heading home from inside the box.
“It’s the second phase of a set-piece which is disappointing,” he said. “Often Torquay scores off second phases of throw-ins and set-pieces and we know it’s an area that they often profit from. We didn’t clear the first ball well enough and when the second ball happens, they are the first to it as they were in other areas of the pitch. So it wasn’t just that moment, there were too many moments where we were second best.”
Town made various changes following the goal, however despite some late pressure, failed to find the back of the net.
“It was one of these games where there wasn’t a huge amount in it. They were the better team, but we felt, with the players we had on the pitch, with Yamen, Mani, Milli Alli, and Jamie Cooke and others at set pieces like Festus and Jesse, we had enough there to be able to carry a goal threat and maybe nick it 1-0. So we weren’t the ones looking to change it at 0-0 because we felt we might be the ones to go ahead and just nick it. It wasn’t going to be a game where anyone was really going to dominate possession because of the conditions. It wasn’t going to be a game where either team was going to stay in the opposition half for long periods. We felt, the longer the game went on the more likely we were to nick it 1-0.”
The Shaymen have struggled to pick up points on the road with Town’s last away win in the league coming against Solihull Moors back in November.
“We were just saying that in the changing room,” Millington said. “ We’ve been on the wrong end of too many 1-0s in what have been nothing games. Like today, we’ve had it at Yeovil, at Eastleigh, they are games where you come away and just make sure you don’t lose and we’re coming away on the wrong end of a 1-0 defeat. You could argue the game against Altrincham on Boxing Day, wasn’t dissimilar. It’s a game where we do a bit more and we come away with at least a point. It’s something we need to fix.”
Up next for Town sees a break in league action as we travel to Harrow Borough for the fourth round of the FA Trophy.
“It’s a bit too fresh this result for me to think too far ahead,” he said. “It gives us an opportunity to get some minutes into some of the lads, and it’s an opportunity for them to stake a claim for a starting shirt because we need more and we’ve not got it out of the boys today. So, some of the others will have the opportunity to show they can offer it.”
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