Post by admin on Dec 23, 2023 19:49:23 GMT
Farnborough 1 Braintree Town 0
by David Ward
How the Iron failed to come away from Cherrywood Road without all three points on Saturday will be one of the biggest ever mysteries in the club's history because they completely dominated the game, tore the home side to pieces in the first half and missed five, reasonably easy gilt-edge chances to score then and even in the second half again missed four similar chances and also had a header and shot cleared off the home goal line.
To miss so many comparatively easy chances over the 90 minutes was a bitter disappointment for the Iron fans in the 1,005 crowd while the home manager openly admitted afterwards they should have been down four goals and gone by the interval and in reality the game over as a contest - it in the end it was simply such an embarrassment for the Iron players at the final whistle.
But of course being so in charge of the game and not taking even one chance was as always likely to come back to haunt the Iron and it did just that on 74 minutes when they totally unnecessarily conceded a penalty and gave the home side an undeserved victory.
"I'm really disappointed for the players because they did so well, played great football and created so many chances all we needed was one to go in," explained manager Angelo Harrop. "We should have been three or four goals up at the interval as we were in total charge and how we missed some of the chances I simply don't know.
"I can't criticise them because their work ethic, work rate and the football they played was really outstanding," he continued. "I just knew that we might pay for missing those chances and they could snatch a goal against the run of play and that's exactly what happened - situations like that always come back to bit you in the bum as we say."
He went on: "Even conceding the goal I still thought we could come back and get at least a deserved equaliser and late on we had a shot and header cleared off their line and I then sense it wasn't going to be our day. I am disappointed because the team played so well and we knew it would be a tough place to come but that's football and now we move on."
"But it's over and done with, we must learn from the setback and now set our sights on winning our next two games again arch rivals Chelmsford City," he concluded.
Assistant coach Steve Pitt added: "Yes, we should have been at least three or four goals up at the break but possession and dominance doesn't always win you games - you have to score goals at any level if you want to win.
"Inevitably football has a nasty chance of catching you out in such given circumstances," he added.
The Iron's starting line-up included back again Boris Altintop after his brief sojourn with Dartford and he was made captain following the news that recent skipper John White has left the club having only been a fringe player this season.
The club have also released on-loan full-back Ben Mason who has returned to his parent club Wimbledon and similarly Sammy Braybrook has gone back to Ipswich Town while the Iron management are now concentrating on bringing in a new striker in the New Year to compensate for the recent departure of Will Davies to York City.
At Farnborough though they should have taken the lead within the first minute when Aaron Blair broke clear but his low shot just missed the far upright with the home keeper beaten and the chances kept coming in droves particularly during the first half with Matt Ward, Alfie Payne, Shaquile Coulthirst and Tom Blackwell all seeing their efforts somehow missing the goal net.
The second half was much the same with the Iron continuing to push forward and again chances went begging with an Altintop header and a Blair shot cleared off the home goal line late on.
The killer of course was giving away, and it was literally a gift, that penalty which Aaron Kuhl slotted home giving Iron keeper Jack Simms.
All eyes now turn to Boxing Day and the big rivalry game against City with the kick off at 3pm.
by David Ward
How the Iron failed to come away from Cherrywood Road without all three points on Saturday will be one of the biggest ever mysteries in the club's history because they completely dominated the game, tore the home side to pieces in the first half and missed five, reasonably easy gilt-edge chances to score then and even in the second half again missed four similar chances and also had a header and shot cleared off the home goal line.
To miss so many comparatively easy chances over the 90 minutes was a bitter disappointment for the Iron fans in the 1,005 crowd while the home manager openly admitted afterwards they should have been down four goals and gone by the interval and in reality the game over as a contest - it in the end it was simply such an embarrassment for the Iron players at the final whistle.
But of course being so in charge of the game and not taking even one chance was as always likely to come back to haunt the Iron and it did just that on 74 minutes when they totally unnecessarily conceded a penalty and gave the home side an undeserved victory.
"I'm really disappointed for the players because they did so well, played great football and created so many chances all we needed was one to go in," explained manager Angelo Harrop. "We should have been three or four goals up at the interval as we were in total charge and how we missed some of the chances I simply don't know.
"I can't criticise them because their work ethic, work rate and the football they played was really outstanding," he continued. "I just knew that we might pay for missing those chances and they could snatch a goal against the run of play and that's exactly what happened - situations like that always come back to bit you in the bum as we say."
He went on: "Even conceding the goal I still thought we could come back and get at least a deserved equaliser and late on we had a shot and header cleared off their line and I then sense it wasn't going to be our day. I am disappointed because the team played so well and we knew it would be a tough place to come but that's football and now we move on."
"But it's over and done with, we must learn from the setback and now set our sights on winning our next two games again arch rivals Chelmsford City," he concluded.
Assistant coach Steve Pitt added: "Yes, we should have been at least three or four goals up at the break but possession and dominance doesn't always win you games - you have to score goals at any level if you want to win.
"Inevitably football has a nasty chance of catching you out in such given circumstances," he added.
The Iron's starting line-up included back again Boris Altintop after his brief sojourn with Dartford and he was made captain following the news that recent skipper John White has left the club having only been a fringe player this season.
The club have also released on-loan full-back Ben Mason who has returned to his parent club Wimbledon and similarly Sammy Braybrook has gone back to Ipswich Town while the Iron management are now concentrating on bringing in a new striker in the New Year to compensate for the recent departure of Will Davies to York City.
At Farnborough though they should have taken the lead within the first minute when Aaron Blair broke clear but his low shot just missed the far upright with the home keeper beaten and the chances kept coming in droves particularly during the first half with Matt Ward, Alfie Payne, Shaquile Coulthirst and Tom Blackwell all seeing their efforts somehow missing the goal net.
The second half was much the same with the Iron continuing to push forward and again chances went begging with an Altintop header and a Blair shot cleared off the home goal line late on.
The killer of course was giving away, and it was literally a gift, that penalty which Aaron Kuhl slotted home giving Iron keeper Jack Simms.
All eyes now turn to Boxing Day and the big rivalry game against City with the kick off at 3pm.
