Hinckley AFC manager Dale Belford was unhappy that his side were “out-battled and out-fought” by the ten men of Lichfield City in yesterday’s 2-2 draw at the McDonald’s Community Stadium.
Hinckley were already a goal to the good when Lichfield’s Lewis Bourne saw red for a two-footed lunge on the half hour.
But Lichfield rolled their sleeves up and battled hard to turn the game on its head, with only Dominic Perkins’ late equaliser salvaging Hinckley’s unbeaten run.
That left Belford deeply disappointed, and he admitted his side got out of jail and didn’t deserve anything from the game. He said: “We got out-battled and out-worked, and that’s something I don’t like in football. For the first time today, I felt we were second best.
“I’ll pat these lads on the back when they deserve it but today we weren’t at the levels we should be. We need to be honest, hard-working and disciplined and we weren’t today.
“For the first time, I’m disappointed. I can take defeat but the manner of the performance matters. The point we got at the end is one that we possibly didn’t deserve.
“However, credit where credit’s due, we showed a little bit of resilience to get something out of a game where we didn’t deserve it.”
Belford reserved praise for their opposition who he felt deserved immense credit for their display, but felt his side should have dealt with the pacy threat of Ben Lund better.
“Lichfield worked really hard for their manager and for each other. They’ve shown a lot of effort and commitment to get a result.
“We were aware of their threat going forward, and the players were made aware of it. Sometimes it’s pointless defending deep because you invite pressure, you’ve just got to deal with it. Sometimes we could be a little bit more compact but it wasn’t about that today.”
The result brought to an end Hinckley’s seven match winning streak, and the former Tamworth boss hinted at changes to the side for Boxing Day’s local derby against Heather St John’s.
“Over the last couple of performances, the Griff game and today, I think it’s been coming. One or two players need a rest, one or two have been carrying little knocks and I think I’ve possibly been more lenient than I needed to be in keeping people in the side.
“Now, with the players that are here, we probably need to freshen things up. It’s probably caught up with us today. One or two people deserve an opportunity now while one or two have become too lax with being guaranteed a shirt.”
To see the full video interview with Dale, head over to our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/oZLSdQ6aubY
