Joe Conneely said his Hinckley AFC side “did what we had to do” in the 4-1 win over Paget Rangers.
AFC extended the unbeaten run to seven games as four different goalscorers hit the net in the win over the Bears.
Conneely said there were plenty of areas to improve, but that he was happy enough with three points on the board.
He said: “We were good first half, but were frustrated with the amount of times we got caught offside. We didn’t make it easy for ourselves. We’ve got plenty of pace and we got in behind them when we did it right.
“It’s another win, on a tough hot day. We had to make early changes which isn’t ideal and the second half was disgustingly bad. But we got through it, hopefully injury free, but it’s another win so we’re happy.”
He put the “disjointed” second half down to having to make a number of early substitutes, combined with the warm and sunny day.
Conneely and Courtney Hunter-Belford had used three of their switches by the 11th minute of the second half and he says that contributed to the sloppy nature of the second period.
“We said at half time to manage it better, the second half on a hot day. We did it fantastically well against Coton Green where it was 4-0 at half time, the subs kept the energy levels up and we scored four more.
“Whereas today, we had to make them earlier and we looked really disjointed. It wasn’t ideal – Jack we brought off as a precaution, Sam Walton pulled up slightly, Calum was brilliant but we had to manager him because he hasn’t played since December.
“It was a bad second half but we came through it with three points. The season can start taking shape now. We haven’t been able to train because we’ve had so many games, and that should mean we can start getting a few bodies back.”
He was also critical of the goal Hinckley conceded – and said standards dropped during that spell which he says must remain higher.
“The goal they scored was poor off the ball. I don’t like laziness, it doesn’t matter what minute of the game you have to keep those standards high.
“If you drop into lower standards, you come unstuck when you can’t get out of that routine. We drive that into the lads.”
The returning Brady Middleton played a hand in all four goals, setting up three assists to add to the strike of his own.
Conneely wants more of the same from the former Bedworth man but says he hit the ground running on his return to the club.
“We’ve seen what he can give us. He’s honest and hardworking, makes runs in behind. He’s very unselfish which is good to see, there were chances where he could go himself but there was a better pass on and he made it and we scored from it.
“He’s a good kid and he’s in a place where he can enjoy his football. He’s got a good environment around it, he hit the ground running and we expect more of that.”
