No need to panic says Bards coach
COACH Paul Davis admits that while his Stratford Town players have work to do if they are to maintain their promotion credentials, there’s no need to panic.
The Bards are without a game on Saturday following their FA Trophy exit and Davis said the free weekend will be the perfect time to take stock.
“It’s good that we have a break now,” he said. “It gives us time to take stock and evaluate where we are after 13 league games. We are eight unbeaten and if I had said to you in August that’s where we’d be you would think we would be top and flying. The fact that we are only just in the top five shows there are lots of good sides and the league is more even.
“We have some things to work on. We are better than we were at the beginning of the season but we still need to do some things better.
“Leamington drew quite a lot of games last year and still managed to go up so if we can turn some of those draws into wins then we will be going in the right direction. We are slightly behind where I’d like us to be but I think that’s the same for most of the clubs. Usually two points a game will get you into the play-offs but this season I think it will win you the league. “At Christmas I think you will see five or six adrift at the bottom and I think there will be two or three around the top with the rest competing for fourth and fifth.
“I don’t think we need to panic as we have only lost two games all season but there are still things to work on.”
Stratford’s 1-1 draws with Barwell on Tuesday and Lowestoft Town at the weekend means they have drawn more games than any other side in the division, six out of 13.
And although he was frustrated with Saturday’s outcome, Davis said a share of the points was probably the right outcome in midweek.
“We had the better chances but I think a draw was probably a fair result. We knew they were going to play a diamond [formation] and how we were going to set up against it and we felt as though we were in control of the game. It was nice to get the goal because sometimes we have been in control and not taken the lead.
“But in the second half we never got going. I know they changed their shape and we thought that might suit us but we didn’t get going. We defended high when there was no pressure on the ball and have given away a sloppy goal.
“On Saturday we certainly dropped two points as we had more than 30 shots on goal which should have been enough to win three or four games of football. That was a frustrating afternoon.”
The Bards are next in action on Saturday 2nd November when they head to Royston Town before welcoming Spalding United to the Arden Garages Stadium the following Saturday.
