Mon 26 Oct 2015, 19:36
Gary McCann was realistic when asked for his thoughts on the defeat at Merstham on Saturday. He said, "I am very disappointed to lose the game. If it was judged on possession, passion and willingness, we would have deserved to win, but we made too many wrong decisions in and around the Merstham penalty area. Overall, I don’t think we deserved to lose.
"Their defending was creditable, but we have to look at ourselves and it was not good enough on our part. We didn't do enough in the final third to merit winning the game.
"It was a bit of difficult morning with two players dropping out with medical issues, this on top of our captain being suspended. As a result, we had to reshuffle our players and call in some who weren’t going to be with us.
"In the game, I thought they were more effective in the first half, but we did improve as it went on. And we were the better team in the second half, but we just couldn't find an opening.
"It is fine details that are costing us points we should be picking up. The players gave their all for me, but we switched off for a moment and they pounced on the loose ball.
"What is frustrating is that we made a similar mistake in the game at Earlsmead and we didn’t learn from it. There were lots of positives to come out of the game but the players have to take responsibility for these lapses in concentration which are proving so costly.
"I want to give special praise to Hassan Sulaiman and Mason Welch-Turner who weren't aware of their inclusion until mid-morning.â€
Reflecting on reaching the 600 game milestone as manager Gary said, "I have really enjoyed my time. It is a club I have great fondness for and feel proud and honoured to have been part of it for almost 20 years now.
"Yes, there have been a few struggles, especially losing our home in 2008, but there have been many, many highs with two FA Cup runs to the first round and three final victories in the London Senior Cup and one in the League Cup.
"Last season was very special and, looking forward, hopefully we will be in a new home at the start of next season."