KJM SPORT REPORT Millbrook AFC 0 Saltash United 2

You are here: Home

Details: Created on Saturday, 16 April 2022 14:06; Last Updated on Sunday, 17 April 2022 15:23; Published on Saturday, 16 April 2022 14:06; Written by KEVIN MARRIOTT Cornwall football's touchline ace

Western Leaguelogo While Saltash remain on course for an excellent fourth place finish on their return to the Western League, you get the impression Millbrook can’t wait for the campaign to finish.

In their inaugural season at this level, the small club’s resources on and off the field have been stretched at times and there have been ups and downs in results as a consequence.

Good Friday’s visit of local rivals Saltash ended with the home side’s fourth successive defeat, the worst sequence of losses all season, with second half goals from Reece Thomson (61 minutes) and substitute Rubin Wilson (84) securing the Ashes’ first win over Millbrook in four attempts this campaign.

Saltash manager Dane Bunney summed it up when he said it was not a game for the purist but he felt his side had done enough to deserve the win, especially in the second half.

Millbrook boss Macca Brown was in more philosophical mood afterwards. He said: “In terms of performance it was the response that I was looking for after a poor run of form, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough to stop a poor run of results.

“Don’t get me wrong, I hate losing games, the lads hate losing games and we’ve lost the last four, so nobody is happy about that.

“But I can only ask the players to go out and give everything and they did that, and given a couple of sloppy moments we’d have points on the board this weekend.

“Saltash had quite a lot of possession and both teams probably thought they were in control of the game but just in different ways. We were content with them having the ball in areas where they didn’t hurt us and Chris (Wearing) didn’t have a save to make in the first half, whereas we had a glorious chance with Knighty (Ryan Knight) one on one and he knows he should have done better.”

Brown revealed that at half-time the team were pleased with the defensive side of their game but he demanded more quality with the ball.

He said: “I felt we did that, certainly in comparison to the first half, but a mistake in the six yard box led to a simple tap in and that’s so frustrating.

“You work so hard to be broken down and with the game lacking any intensity and tempo, i didn’t see a breakthrough. You somewhat accept it if it is a moment of magic and whilst it was a well worked throw-in routine from Saltash, we were caught flat-footed in the six yard box and should just clear our lines.”

Brown felt there was a good reaction to going 1-0 down but not quite good enough.

He said: “JT (Josh Toulson) forced (Ryan) Rickard into a great save from a header and there were a few other chances as the rhythm of the game changed in our favour, but I said a few weeks ago football is decided by what happens in both boxes, and we are just falling short in respect to both recently and that’s not a good recipe.

“But congratulations to Saltash, they probably edged us on the day in terms of their quality. We’ve had some proper games with them this season, and that’s the first one out of four we’ve lost so there has to be perspective.

“I’m sure they’ll go on and cement fourth place and that’s a great first season for them.

“I’d also like congratulate Westy, Charlie, James and the players at Falmouth Town for wrapping up the Peninsula West Division after a great season, they’ll be a great addition to the Western League.”

Millbrook visit second placed Exmouth Town tomorrow (1200ko) WESTERN LEAGUE FIXTURES

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tweets by swsportsnews