Daryl McMahon thought his side could have livened up a bit sooner after Nathan Ashmore’s string of fine saves and accepted that the point may still prove a valuable away one.
“The second half, first 15-20 minutes we were poor, too deep, couldn’t get out and lacked a bit of composure as well,” McMahon told BBC Radio Kent’s Charles Webster. “Nathan was outstanding in that period for us, I don’t know how many chances you need to liven yourselves up but we didn’t. We’ve been on a great run, it’s a point at a difficult place to come on a windy Tuesday night. We’ll dust ourselves down and get ready again for Saturday.”
Ashmore was very unfortunate to see the ball finally cross the line as it seemed to hit his back as it bobbled over the line. “It was an ugly goal but they all count,” McMahon said. “We would have taken that if it was the other way round. But Nathan was great and we didn’t liven ourselves up after the two or three saves he made.”
By contrast the Fleet were lively in the first half and McMahon called it the classic “game of two halves”.
“First half we were excellent and if we’d come in at half-time 3-0 up, no-one could have complained,” he said. “But again, like Saturday, we’ve had numerous one v one opportunities and we haven’t taken them. And when you miss chances like that, it gives the other team a chance to get back into the game.
“Even if we had one more goal, with the greatest respect to Hemel they’re a good side, but it probably would have been game over. And [late on] we had two or three good chances to nick the match 2-1 which we didn’t take.”
And the boss isn’t changing his tune about dropped points as he insists this will be one of numerous twists and turns to come.
“I’ve said it all the way along whether we were winning or not and I’m not going to change that now, there’ll be draws, losses for everyone in and around that top five or six between now and the end of the season, I’ve got no doubt about that,” he said.
“It’s just about how you react now. We’ve been on a great run and up until the second 45 minutes we were still on a great run and playing some really great stuff. I don’t think anyone would have envisaged the second half. The players in that dressing room have been great over the last two months and we go again.”
https://soundcloud.com/eufcofficial/daryl-after-hemel
