Hinckley AFC assistant manager Paul Tomlinson was pleased with his side’s performance for different reasons in their 3-1 success over Paget Rangers.
After a convincing win and performance to score six against Nuneaton Griff on Tuesday, this win was more of the professional nature, recording all three points without being at their fluent best.
Tomlinson said his side had to dig in, but felt his side got their rewards in the end. He said: “I’m pleased with us today in a different way. We were tight, solid and secure at the back. Yes, we conceded against ten men but it was a delightful ball from the full back and a great finish.
“We had to dig in today. During the season you’re going to have to do that – you’re never going to steamroll every team you play against.
“I’ve got no complaints. I’m pleased with the final outcome and we could have scored six or seven having missed a penalty and hit the woodwork three times.”
He said one of the keys to asserting themselves more on the game was a change of system midway through the first half. AFC switched from a diamond in midfield to a flat four, which allowed them to gain more of a stronghold in the game.
“Paget were winning the midfield battle at the time and we could see the system wasn’t working well after 15 or 20 minutes.
“Sometimes you have to make a change within the game – we did that by changing to a flat four and that nullified their threat a bit. We got ourselves into the game, we got a scrappy goal but they all count.
“It was a comfortable finish to the first half when they were down to ten men but I’d have liked to see us keep the ball a bit better with our extra man.”
Tomlinson also reserved praise for visitors Paget. The newly promoted Bears may have lost three of their first four, but Carl Abbott’s assistant reckons they can hurt some good sides this season.
“They (Paget) are a good side, they do things the right way and they’ve got some very good players. We knew it was going to be tough and that was the chat in the changing room before the game.
“We knew we had to match what they were going to give. They worked really hard for the cause, they moved well around the park.
“Paget made it a really competitive game in the second half, and for 20 minutes you wouldn’t have known who’d got ten men and who’d got 11.
“That’s credit to Paget and if they play like that against other sides they’ll take points off some top sides this season.”
To see the full video interview with Tommo, head to our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/zQ2aQpJguNc
