We won 5-2 but still produced some sloppy finishing - says Bognor coach

Bognor strolled to a 5-2 victory at East Court on Tuesday night thanks to goals from Jordy Mongoy, Nathan Odokoynero (2), Charlie Bell and Kayne Diedrick-Roberts.

It followed the heartbreak of a 4-2 penalty shootout defeat that brought an FA Trophy exit at the hands of Truro on Sunday after Mongoy had scored in a 1-1 draw.

While coach Blake was delighted with the East Grinstead win and the passage into the last 16, he believes the visitors should have had ten. The Rocks raced into a four-goal lead before half-time but took their foot off the pedal after the break and sloppy defending allowed the Wasps to make the scoreline respectable.

East Grinstead v Rocks picture special.

That disappointed Blake along with wayward finishing, although he was happy with the triumph. He said: “It was a comprehensive win and we’re delighted. We asked the players to have the right attitude and respect the competition and our opponents and they did that.

“We started on the front foot and created so many chances. We had lots of possession and, but for some sloppy finishing, we perhaps could have had double what we scored.

“We need to be more ruthless, far more clinical in front of goal and we believe that will come as the season continues.

“Credit to East Grinstead who sat in and deep and looked to hurt us on the counter attack and they got some joy in the second half when our defending on occasion was at fault, and it was clear that we should have had better concentration levels.”

Blake said he and manager Jack Pearce were proud of the players’ efforts against Truro. He said: “Our first half wasn’t great and at the break we asked the lads to try to get us a foothold and the way they responded was magnificent.”

Now Blake and Pearce take the Rocks to an Isthmian premier game at eighth-placed Margate on Saturday. And Blake says the game gives the Rocks, in tenth place, a chance to re-establish their bid to occupy the top slots in the league table.

He said: “It’s a competitive league and we know we can challenge at the right end of the table but we also know that Margate feel they can do the same.”