Petersfield Town manager Connor Hoare and assistant manager Callum Glen post-Sherborne Town
Transcript
00:00 Conor Callum, 1-0 win against Sherborne today in difficult conditions, four seasons in one day there.
00:05 Pleased with that today?
00:07 Yeah, definitely. I thought, again, it looked really defensively solid.
00:13 I can't really remember a time that it looked like we were actually really going to concede.
00:19 Obviously, they're chucking the kitchen sinker at the end, but even then I felt it was quite comfortable.
00:24 We defended the box really well and to be honest, yeah, a couple of chances in the first half that we probably should have scored.
00:33 Obviously, the goal from Oli is excellent and now probably another chance in the second half.
00:38 So, on the balance of the game, definitely deserved the result.
00:43 And two clean sheets in a row and Ellis didn't really have a lot to do,
00:47 which kind of says about the whole performance across the team to protect him really.
00:51 So, claims across his but barely a shot to save really.
00:54 Yeah, we've been working on it quite a bit. So, we sat down and had a talk about where we're at, what we need to do better.
01:01 We realised that, obviously, clean sheets is not something we've done enough.
01:05 Like you say, two in a row, it might be the first time this season.
01:08 So, we've changed a little bit of how we are going to be defending.
01:12 And yeah, to be fair, in the early parts of the season, we were going to be unlucky with a few things,
01:19 potentially we were a little bit expansive out of possession, which meant when we gave it away, we were a little bit too open.
01:24 So, we've changed that a little bit. We look really solid.
01:28 The lads are putting much more of a shift in. I think they're working harder off the ball than they were,
01:33 which is really important in this league at any level as well.
01:37 But yeah, we're really pleased with the way we're defending.
01:41 Obviously, going forward, we're a little bit less threatening than we probably have been since the start of the season.
01:47 However, it's about getting results. So, today wasn't a pretty game in the end.
01:51 I thought, first off, we really controlled it, dominated it.
01:53 Second off, there was a bit more of a 45 minutes of digging in, especially with the pitch deteriorating.
01:58 But yeah, overall, we look like a much more solid outfit, which is really pleasing.
02:03 Just sort of showing a different side to your game and your armoury, really, because you've had that free-flowing football at times.
02:08 But today, when you had to dig in towards the end, you did, didn't you?
02:13 Definitely. Don't get me wrong, but I think we came to a realisation as a staff of,
02:19 OK, ideally, what do we want to be as an absolute ideal?
02:24 But what can we realistically do?
02:27 And really trying to adapt against opposition, I think one thing we've probably been guilty of for the majority of the season
02:34 is worrying so much about ourselves.
02:37 And it probably has cost us at times results.
02:40 But we take that fully on our shoulders.
02:43 First and foremost, it's how do we want to play, but how can we play based on who we're playing?
02:50 So, ideally, everyone wants to be high-pressing and play the best teams in the world.
02:56 But you have to understand that it's really difficult to be able to do that.
03:00 So, as Kyle says, we made a few tweaks.
03:03 I think in the last two games, we barely conceded a real chance in two games.
03:10 So, it obviously works.
03:12 And it was just about how we can then have an attacking threat on top of that, which today, to be fair, we did.
03:21 We did not as much as what we were at the start of the season or midway through the season.
03:26 But again, we could have scored three or four goals comfortably.
03:30 And it was a moment of absolute magic really from Wally Davis, wasn't it?
03:34 To obviously score the winning goal in the end.
03:37 Yeah, no, he's got that locker.
03:39 We've just got to make sure that he gets his fitness back up because he's been out for a while with a long-run hamstring issue.
03:44 But yeah, he's got that quality, especially in their final third.
03:47 I think he had a couple of opportunities to slip a few players in as well, which just didn't pay off in the early part of the game as well.
03:52 So, he's got that quality and we know that.
03:54 We've just got to make sure that his other side of his game is improving because he's got really high seeding, but he's still got a long way to go.
04:03 Yeah, and there were some chances that you got into some good positions today, didn't you?
04:08 Especially in that first half to potentially get a few more today.
04:11 Yeah, definitely.
04:12 I mean, half had two, I think, in the first half.
04:15 He's probably looking at it thinking he has to score.
04:19 I think it was literally two-one-v-one, so we're probably looking at it as well, thinking there's got to be goals.
04:25 I think a couple of flashes across the goal where we should be getting on the end of them or the pass wasn't quite right for someone.
04:32 And then second half, Kieran Alcock, I think, coming inside, probably about 10 yards out again, just find a corner.
04:41 So, we definitely had real chances, not half chances, which was more like Portland half chances.
04:47 We had some real chances today.
04:49 But again, it's pleasing because there's only a certain amount of chances that you can miss before they start going in.
04:56 And thoughts now on Havon on Tuesday night? Obviously, second time of asking, obviously after the assignment, but looking forward to that?
05:04 Yeah, we're looking forward to it.
05:05 Like I said previously, it's a big club nationally as a non-league club, so it'd be great to put our wits against their managers, their players.
05:14 A great opportunity for the lads to progress into a cup competition.
05:18 I think if we win that, we're into the semi-finals with the character of playing at Fram Park in the final, which is usually the case.
05:23 So, it's a big game for us.
05:25 One game we've highlighted as a really important one that we want to try and progress in, hoping for our sake they don't bring us as strong as a size they potentially could.
05:33 But I hope if they do, it'll be a great experience for us.
05:36 So, yeah, we're looking forward to it.
05:37 Hopefully the pitch will be able to hold up.
05:39 But yeah, a game that we can't wait for.
05:42 And after the three points today, you just want to carry that on in the league when you go to Christchurch next week?
05:47 Yeah, nothing's going to change from us.
05:49 It's all about not conceding goals and scoring more than the other team.
05:54 Whatever way that we can come up with doing that is what we're going to do.