KJM SPORT REPORT Barnstaple Town 2 Saltash Utd 0

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Created on Friday, 05 January 2024 09:04

Last Updated on Tuesday, 16 January 2024 09:09

Published on Friday, 05 January 2024 09:04

Written by KEVIN MARRIOTT at KJM Sports

It was a case of what might have been - again - for a young Saltash side as they paid the price for missed opportunities in the first half at Mill Road on Saturday.

The Ashes were the dominant team but the opening 45 minutes finished goalless.

The second half saw a Barnstaple improvement and two goals from Tor Swann sealed the points for the home side.

Ashes boss Macca Brown said: “It was the story of our season wrapped into 90 minutes; missed clear cut chances, the standard mistake which hands ours opponents a goal and a poor decision which has all gone against us.

“It’s left us incredibly frustrated at the result, mainly because it’s the same old story and it’s becoming difficult to accept.

“Our frailties in recent games have been highlighted in more ways than one as a squad in an attempt to eradicate them, video analysis, training, team talks, but clearly the message isn’t getting through, but saying that we haven’t been helped by really poor officiating again.”

Brown went on: “We were outstanding in the first half, and created enough chances to win three games of football, but credit to Barnstaple, they held in there and stayed in the game.

“We had three cleared off the line and a couple of other brilliant chances that we squandered, and limited them to very little, so we were delighted with the maturity of the performance on a whole in the first half.

“It wasn’t pretty, but it was a performance that had the efficiency and effectivess that you expect in January with pitches how they are and we were a serious threat, in particular down our right hand side (through Joe Preece) but importantly we had nothing to show for it.

“At half time we reinforced the things that we had done brilliantly and that needed to continue to be done brilliantly and we started the second half well but it wasn’t at the same level as the first half and Barnstaple improved.

“Jake Curtis had an unbelievable chance one on one, but it is one that you see strikers miss, where they have too much time and a bobbly pitch made it difficult for him and the keeper smothered it, but that felt like a big chance because the first goal was always going to be key.

“And then there was the moment where the game was lost. Laurence (Murray) has to do better with his clearance and that’s been the case several times this season with a poor clearance from one of our back four.

“Buckland, Downton, Falmouth, Street and now Barnstaple have all benefited from a poor clearance and the message clearly isn’t going in.

“When a defender has time and space to clear a ball unopposed it shouldn’t end up in our net 10 seconds later, it’s as simple as that, but the linesman has missed a blatant offside which is really disappointing.

“Bowks (Stuart Bowker) prods it to his strike partner, and he’s probably two yards offside at least and I know we have the benefit of Veo, but it’s one that can’t be missed in the moment, no excuses, but it was and that’s that.

“The second goal was the complete opposite of the efficiency and effectiveness that we displayed in the first half - overplayed at the back, and we’ve killed Jordan (Duffey) with a back pass and it’s a tap-in, game over, a long away day ruined by a lack of discipline in terms of following instructions and creeping into bad habits.

“We’ll reflect and in a couple of days we’ll recognise the many positive signs that come from the game, but we have to start replacing positive signs with positive results.”

It doesn’t get any easier for the Ashes as they prepare for the visit of leaders Clevedon Town to the Waterways on Saturday.

Barnstaple: L Kingston, J Belsten, M Perkins (J Edwards 46), M Bye (H Dennis 65), G Russell (N Colley 65), A Heywood, C Prentice, T Swann, S Bowker (J Hearsey 80), H Dorothy (T Rogers 58), B Tucker.

Goals: T Swann 2 (55 & 71).

Saltash: J Duffey, T Badcott, E Wright, E Goodman (B Goulty 86), T Huyton (S Cox 81), L Murray, K O’Melia, T Love-Holmes, J Curtis (J Jefford 81), A Goulty, J Preece.

Referee: Nigel D’Arcy.

SWSN Stars Barnstaple - Tor Swann; Saltash - Joe Preece.

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