‘Irritated’ boss Hollyhead says Kettering Town will learn from Harborough Town setback
Boss Simon Hollyhead admitted he was 'irritated' to lose 1-0 to Harbrough Town at Latimer Park on Monday - but insists his Kettering Town team will learn from the experience.
The Poppies suffered a first Pitching-In Southern League Premier Central defeat of the season as they were undone by Danny Newton's 28th-minute strike, and drop to third in the table, with the Bees going top.
On a difficult afternoon at Latimer Park, there was a 13-minute delay in the second half as play was halted due to an alleged racist comment towards a match official from the crowd, and Hollyhead was left frustrated as his team failed to find their rhythm.
But he also felt his team's second-half performance warranted at least a point.
"The situation which led to their goal was avoidable, and at half-time we felt we had to make changes for tactical reasons, as I don't think there was any lack of effort," Hollyhead told Kettering Town’s YouTube channel. "And I am now wondering how we didn't score.
"In terms of game intelligence they had the upper hand, but we got into enough areas in the second half, but that final ball or that final touch wasn't there and it felt like it wasn't going to be our day.
"We will learn a lot from the game though, I thought there were some very encouraging signs and on another day we would have definitely got something out of the game.
"Just before the enforced break I thought we had got some momentum into the game, and who knows what that would have led to?
"But with the situations we had and the areas we got into, we should have scored, and it is tough to take."
The match against Harborough was the Poppies' fifth in two-and-a-half weeks to start the season, and Hollyhead believes his team has still enjoyed a strong start, despite Monday's setback.
"We all know we need more than 11 players, and we shouldn't underestimate the past 17 days," said the Poppies boss.
"We have won four games, and probably in parts of Monday's game we played better than we did in the games we actually won.
"We expect Harborough to be one of the better sides, but we are really irritated that we didn't get something from that game.
"You saw Harborough's reaction at the end, and what was important as well was the reaction of our supporters.
"Their comments summed up how proud they are of the team, and how proud the team is of them, and it is really important we stick together as it is just one game, and there are 42 games in the season."
The Poppies now have a free week before they travel to Step 4 side Long Eaton United in the FA Cup first qualifying round on Saturday.