Defensive lapses surprise Bards’ head coach

KAMIKAZE defending had Stratford Town head coach Paul Davis baffled he admitted after seeing his side held to a 1-1 draw by league struggles Hitchin Town.

The visitors had already opened the scoring before the Bards boss tweaked the formation midway through the first half with further changes at the break including Dan Vann replacing Kevin Joshua as Town switched from a back three to a back four.

David said: “I think we stopped them playing football in the first half which meant they had to go bigger. What surprised me was that we didn't deal with that and after the first 25 minutes of complete kamikaze defending I changed the shape and we seemed to get more of a foothold in the game but we were already 1-0 down and chasing the game.

“I thought that defensively it was the worst we have been since I’ve been in charge. I felt we needed to change that.”

Hitchin’s goal came from the penalty spot, Dan Stokoe scoring after he had been fouled by Joshua and Davis suggested there could be changes going into Saturday’s match at home to Stourbridge.

Defender Alex Worley has rejoined after a spell with Stourbridge and could easily slot into a back three or four.

“People want to be at the football club because of where we are in the table and Alex is one I’ve always stayed in touch with,” Davis added.

“He can play at centre-half, left-back and left midfield. Things haven’t quite gone to plan at Stourbridge but he likes it here and his family likes it here. We aren’t signing players at this stage of the season for ten games, we are bringing them in for hopefully the next 50 or 60 games.

“He wasn’t in the squad against Hitchin because I wanted to stick with those who won 3-0 on Tuesday night but he will be involved on Saturday.”

And the Bards boss also praised the contribution of teenage keeper Jenson Kilroy after he stepped in on loan from Walsall to cover for Jake Weaver who missed three games due to a knock on the head.

“Jenson has been brilliant - he is a great kid and we have thanked Walsall for letting us have him.

“I’ve said to him that if he wasn’t going to play anywhere then stick around with us. It would be good for him with what we are doing here, a good experience for him.

“We like to look after all the loan players and would like to think that their parent clubs feel that we have treated the players right. He has had some good experience and played a part in Ison’s hat-trick against Royston. He has experienced quite a lot of things in three games.”