On reflection on today’s game, I think there is certainly a feeling of disappointment and frustration on a number of fronts. Obviously the result is disappointing as I felt, particularly at half time, that it was a game we would be disappointed not to take anything from. Secondly, due to the number of needless cautions we picked up which was obviously a big talking point after the game and thirdly to our response after having gone down to 10 men.

It was even more disappointing as I felt we were more than a match for Tamworth, who, let’s not forget were favorites for the league only a month ago, and having gone a goal up after a brilliant finish from Higgsy I felt our defensive qualities would see us capture another 3 points. However, that wasn’t to be as a moment of madness from Bammo left the referee with no other decision other than to produce a second yellow. A fluke equaliser from a cross that ended up in the top corner of the goal minutes later really looked like it knocked the stuffing out of the us and on the final whistle Tamworth were worthy winners.

From a performance perspective, I was pleased with how competitive we were. It was one of the games that both teams looked to press hard which made the game more of a battle than what we would have liked and left moments of ‘football’ relatively sparse. I was delighted for Higgsy to have got off the mark for the season and hope he starts to build on that.

Having said all of the above, I think it’s a show of how far we’ve come that we are disappointed to lose to a team tipped for the title. Tamworth have some very good players and I have no doubt they will be climb up the table and be near the top come April. For us – its yet another learning opportunity! Be braver to get the ball down and play, reactions to moments in the game and probably the biggest and most obvious learning from today’s game is the need for cool heads in the heat of a battle which is aimed at a number of us (including me!!).

Our disciplinary record is obviously an area of concern as we start to rack up a number of needless bookings and red cards. My pet hate is picking up pointless bookings for arguing with the officials, which at some point during the season will start costing us as we will start missing key players for important games, and unfortunately we don’t have the squad size to be able to miss more than a couple of players each game. We must address this as a group and improve this area if we are to meet our seasons objectives.

Godders.