Basingstoke defeat is tough to take forTommy

After the controversial defeat to Basingstoke, Borough boss Tommy Widdrington measured his words.

“Firstly I’d praise my players. We were honest in what we tried to do. The circumstances meant we played about an hour with ten men, and to take the lead was a great effort.

“The work-rate and the honesty that they showed was commendable. But at the end of the day we got nothing from the game.

“Some of that is our fault, but I just feel again this is another game where a lot of things out of our hands have gone against us, and that’s very difficult to swallow.

“I’m not going to berate the players. When I first came here we chucked away games for fun at the end of ninety minutes. I don’t think that’s the case anymore.

“It seems that we’re not getting the rub of the green when we want it. If we do make an error, or if an individual makes an error particularly near our goal, it tends to be pounced on and punished. That’s been the case today.

“At the end of the day, whatever I say to you, people will be looking at the league table and it doesn’t lie. It’s as simple as that. Basingstoke are where they are (in bottom position) because of the way they’ve performed since the start of the season. We have up to three games in hand over some other teams, but those games are irrelevant if you don’t take points from them.

“We try to get across to the players that as long as they take out of their game what they put in, I’ll be happy. If we’ve drawn a game, or even lost a game, if we’ve done all the things we feel we’re good at, I’ll take that.

“But the ill discipline showed, because of certain instances and decisions made on the pitch this afternoon that flabbergasted me, to be honest, but I’d better be careful what I say on that matter.”