‘Miles off it’ - Brackley Town boss Andy Whing delivers brutally honest verdict on Wealdstone defeat
Andy Whing admits Brackley Town can only blame themselves after Tuesday night’s 2-1 Enterprise National League defeat away at Wealdstone.
It was only Whing’s second game in charge, following on from Saturday’s 3-0 loss at home to Southend United, however there wasn’t a great deal of improvement from the Saints.
Brackley started the game very poorly and went down to 10 men when Danny Newton saw red just 23 minutes in, making the task all the trickier at Grosvenor Vale.
Both Whing and the travelling Brackley faithful were up in arms over the decision but Wealdstone didn’t care, breaking the deadlock through Sean Jordan Adarkwa just after the half-hour mark.
Stones midfielder Nathan Tshikuna then doubled the hosts’ advantage in the 64th minute, giving Brackley a mountain to climb. Whing’s men did respond well from that point on and halved the deficit through Morgan Roberts, however Wealdstone were able to hold on for all three points.
“I’m really disappointed to be perfectly honest, I think we were really poor at the start of the game,” Whing told @BrackleyTownFC post-match.
“Even on Saturday, I thought we looked good and had that togetherness. But I thought we were miles off it for the first 20-25 minutes.
“We could have been three or four down in the first 20 minutes; we were really poor and didn’t come out of the blocks.”
Whing believes Brackley “shot themselves in the foot” with how they started the game, though the new head coach was far from pleased with referee Emily Heaslip’s decision to send off Newton.
“It was never a sending-off. I’m right in front of it,” Whing exclaimed.
“It’s a yellow card all day. It’s then 11 v 10, they obviously score before half time. Ultimately it’s affected the game.
“The red card didn’t help us. But I thought we grew into the game, the subs came on and did really well, we changed the shape. That helped us. I can’t fault their endeavour to get back into the game.
“I thought we were excellent in the second half. We were the team in the ascendancy and we pressed higher up the pitch. We created more chances.
“There are loads of positives to take, but these negatives - not starting the game well enough and giving them far too much respect - has killed us.
“Yes, it’s a spirited fightback, yes we scored a goal, but we’ve shot ourselves in the foot.”
Brackley have an opportunity to bounce back from their successive defeats under new boss Whing, as the Saints welcome 16th-placed Altrincham to St James Park on Saturday afternoon.