Brimscombe and Thrupp manager Sam Prior was left disappointed with his sides “below par performance” in their 3-1 loss against Royal Wootton Bassett Town in the Hellenic League Premier Division.
Despite a late consolation from Liam Harper, a brace from Alfie Presley and another from Sam Packer was enough for the visitors to seal the victory at The Meadow.
However, it could have been a different outcome after a potential penalty at 1-0 down wasn’t given.
On the penalty, Prior said: “It’s a stonewall penalty. It just didn’t go for us tonight, but on the same token, the referee not awarding the penalty isn’t the reason we haven’t got something from the game.
“At 1-0 it’s a big call you know, it does influence the game because five minutes later they spin one in behind us and they’re 2-0 up.
“I’m not blaming the referee in isolation, for me it’s a stonewall penalty, he didn’t think so, we have to deal with that.
“It’s a difficult game, difficult decision for him. It didn’t go for us, it’s one of those, we are disappointed, don’t get me wrong but we can’t get too het up on it, we’ve got another game coming thick and fast on Saturday.”
Both sides came into this one on three-game winning streaks, but Prior knew his team weren’t at the level he expects from them.
“I think the best team on the night won the game. They carried a threat all night, certainly on the counter, certainly over the top getting in behind us, and we struggled to deal with that a little bit.
“On another day we probably would’ve sneaked a couple in and it could’ve been a different game, but disappointed just with the lads’ performance
“We huffed and we puffed, I’ll never knock the workrate of the lads, just tonight the quality really let us down all over the pitch.”
Regardless of the scoreline, Brimscome and Thrupp created chances, but the end product let them down, with Prior saying: “We created chances, we just haven’t taken them. Sometimes when it’s not your night nothing falls for you.
“We’ve all been involved in those sort of games and sometimes you’ve got to create your own luck.
“Conditions were the same for both sides and I just thought they managed them better. They looked a little bit more lively, a little bit more energetic certainly going forwards.
“We created some chances and that’s always a positive to take from it so you know, on another day, we’ll score some.”
Saturday sees the Lilywhites take on Lydney Town away from home, and despite them sitting 18th in the table, Prior knows not to underestimate his upcoming opponent.
“Lydney’s never an easy place to go to. They’re a good side, they make it tough down there.
“We know the kind of things that we’ll expect down there, and they’ve picked up a couple of decent results to be fair to them, so I wouldn’t take much notice of the league position in any way, shape or form.
“We’ll have to lick our wounds a little bit, we’ll have to have a little bit of a chat going into the game and think about the way we’re going to play, the way we’re going to approach the game.”
Despite the result, Prior was able to go to his bench to try and make an impact, with their goal in fact being scored by a substitute.
He knows the positivity that will possess going forward, stating: “That was one of the bonuses we got from tonight, that we managed to get minutes into players that haven’t been playing or been suspended or been out injured.”
Coming off a tough defeat, as well as having a quick turnaround, Prior knows the key to getting back to winning ways.
“Just not to dwell on it. At the end of the day we’ve thrown in a below par performance and it’s done. We got what we deserved because of that.
“It’s got to be a fresh start on Saturday, make sure that we’re prepared to match the physicality down there and look after the football better, create more chances if we can, go be more forward thinking and be better in possession.
“If we do those things, then we know we’ve got the quality in the squad and in the players to be able to go and create. Like I said, it’s one of those days, we just leave it where it was and move onto Saturday.”
