If we continue to make the same mistakes then we're always going to get the same outcome. Against Hartlepool United the order of events were so predictable and pretty much epitomised our season. We were the better team and dominated the first-half, finally getting the goal we richly deserved before the break. Then, from nowhere we were a calamity in the second-half, conceded two quick-fire goals and all of a sudden were staring a fifth defeat in the face.
I acknowledge that we've had a lot of misfortune, from Lamar Reynolds' disallowed equaliser at Aldershot Town to the handball that wasn't given in our favour against Halifax, but so many of our problems are self-inflicted. It's not the time to put pressure on the players because they've done us proud with their performances, but some of the errors that people have made could cost us in the long run. Hartlepool deserve a lot of credit because they took the lifeline that we handed to them emphatically, but we handed them victory. There's not been a single goal against us that's been a great strike, they're all preventable and avoidable. Seconds before their equaliser, we had the ball in our own half with no danger in sight, only for a miscommunication between Elliott Romain and Liam Gordon to hand the visitors possession and allow them to produce a cross from which Michael Woods would eventually prod home. The second goal was equally frustrating with a routine effort being handled by Goodliffe to give them a blatant penalty. Quite why he'd dive in with his hands so raised is bizarre and that sealed the result. Overall, it was just a case of what could've been. In the first half I was so impressed by our performance and genuinely thought it would be the day that we'd earn a victory that we really did deserve. We were cutting them apart at will and didn't look in much trouble at the back, but everything can change in an instant when it comes to football. Romain was instrumental and his ball to McQueen was superb. The whole move was enough to convince me that our luck was changing. Even after the defeat, I was still immensely proud of the team. We may be in our lowest league position in eighteen years, and may have dwindling crowds, but one thing guaranteed this season is effort. The boys fight for everything and give their all for the cause, but unfortunately the problem is that they're a team of 19-year olds in a fiercely-competitive man's league. We're by far the most inexperienced team in the league but really we could be in the top half right now were it not for brief lapses in concentration. Hartlepool may not have deserved all three points but they do merit a lot of praise because they did what we couldn't and were clinical when their chances came. Even when we're vastly in control we still conceded two and saw both our post and bar struck. The worrying thing is that our run-in of games isn't that difficult and we're in for much tougher times when we encounter a run like the one we have to endure in September/October. We play Gateshead, Wrexham, Ebbsfleet, Sutton and Fylde all within five weeks and I worry how we expect to pick up points in those games, and indeed next week against Salford. The truth is, though, things will get better. We're a very young side still learning with every game but there will be a time when our luck changes and we force that first win over the line. The confidence from that will be massive. Importantly, even when we're losing, it's narrow defeats and we're not being outclassed so it's the fine margins costing us. Hopefully we can rectify those in the coming weeks. The win will come and, when it does, it'll mean so much to everybody.
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January 2024
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