KJM SPORT REPORT Millbrook seek first win of year

You are here: Home

Football

Non-League

Details: Last Updated on Friday, 04 February 2022 15:44; Published on Friday, 04 February 2022 15:41

You can prove anything with statistics, or so they say.

Well here’s one or two to digest as Millbrook travel to just south of Bristol tomorrow to face Ashton & Backwell United in the Western League premier division.

Macca Brown’s team go into the match defending an 11-match unbeaten league run which stretches back to October 16 when they lost 2-1 at Cadbury Heath.

Yet the Brook will also be trying to win their first game of 2022 when they step onto the pitch at the Lancer Scott Stadium.

It’s only four games – two home draws in the league and two away defeats in cup competitions – but even so, you like to put a stop to these sort of runs as soon as possible.

Add to that a 1-1 draw at Saltash on Boxing Day and you discover Millbrook haven’t won since their 12-1 triumph at bottom club Bridport on December 18.

But they go into tomorrow’s game against second from bottom Ashton & Backwell knowing they played well on Wednesday night despite a 2-1 defeat at Helston in the Les Phillips Cup first round.

Reflecting on the game, manager Brown said: “It’s a shame, I thought we were excellent for so much of the game and it is a real disadvantage being drawn away from home midweek, especially in the cup so we were up against it.

“It was a frantic start, Helston came out flying which you’d expect after their poor result from Saturday, and we conceded a soft goal but that actually really settled us down and we improved so much from that point.

“We scored at a good time and were excellent in that first 15 minutes or so of the second half, and you need to score when you’re on top like that.

“We got into some good positions but we have to make the keeper work more for that good work and I only think we did once.

“Credit to Helston, they switched to a 4-4-2 which shored them up in wide areas where we were causing them issues, and unfortunately we didn’t quite have the positional flexibility in the squad to counter that which I would have liked to do.

“The game became frantic again, which suited them because they have individual quality, and we were punished for one loose pass too many in that period when they broke and finished clinically.

‘We were denied what seemed like a stone wall penalty at 1-1, a huge moment in such a tight game as Josh’s (Toulson) shot was goal bound, and I think the ref got that one wrong.

“But overall I can’t complain too much, we gave everything and considering we were missing the spine of our side from recent games, with no Laurence (Murray), Jason (Richards) and Rikki (Shepherd) who have all been brilliant for us, so that was a blow for us

“But John (Styring) and Knighty (Ryan Knight) both came in for their first starts for over a month and did well in such a frantic game.”

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

Tweets by swsportsnews