Ford praises performance despite second defeat on spin

Despite seeing his side slip to a second Evo-Stik Southern League defeat on the spin, Banbury United boss Mike Ford remains upbeat.
Banbury United manager Mike Ford was pleased with display against Dunstable TownBanbury United manager Mike Ford was pleased with display against Dunstable Town
Banbury United manager Mike Ford was pleased with display against Dunstable Town

Ford was pleased with the display in Tuesday’s premier division defeat against Dunstable Town but knows his side must stop conceding from set-pieces.

He said: “We should have won the game so losing 1-0 the way we did just about sums us up at the moment.

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“Apart from the opening 20 minutes, we’ve absolutely dominated the game with possession, passes and shots. But it’s quite simple, we didn’t score despite dominating for 50 minutes.

“If you don’t score when you are on top you are always vulnerable to conceding like we did. For large spells we dominated but we have no divine right to win and we’ve just got to take it on the chin.”

With the new central pairing of Ricky Johnson and Luke Carnell completely dominant, it was even more frustrating for Ford to see his side concede from another set-piece. Danger man Alex Cathline hardly got a kick and United were quick to snuff out any threat, in the air or on the ground.

Ford added: “Ricky [Johnson] and Luke [Carnell] dominated in central defence, their wide men didn’t get any joy out of our full-backs and George Nash ran the midfield.

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“[Alex] Cathline had a little bit of joy in the first half out wide but after that he didn’t get a look-in. It was important for us to stop that threat.

“But we didn’t take our opportunities and they’ve taken one. Your are not too surprised when they score a goal like that because it’s happened too often.

“It was a silly free-kick and a goal to give away. I’ve seen that happen too often, it doesn’t matter who was meant to be picking their player up, we’ve lost 1-0.

“I was really pleased with the way we played, there were some very good performances. But it’s not been a great night because of the result.”