We can all be a manager at 5pm, says frustrated Poppies boss Law

The Poppies were heading for another home success after Aaron O’Connor had given them an early lead.

Plenty of chances came and went for the hosts to double that advantage but the visitors snatched a share of the spoils when Rene Howe headed into his own net from a corner in the first minute of injury-time.

The draw has left Kettering still in second place while leaders King’s Lynn Town and fellow high-fliers Weymouth also dropped points. But title favourites Hereford now trail the Poppies by just two points with a massive four games in hand.

The disappointment turned ugly after the final whistle with Poppies boss Marcus Law having a furious exchange with at least one supporter on his way to the tunnel.

When asked about the incident, Law said: “We can all be a manager at 5pm when we’ve seen what’s happened.

“At the end of the day, we have had a goal disallowed, the goalkeeper has made saves, we’ve hit the post and throughout the whole game my goalkeeper has had to make one meaningful save.

“We were in control of the game, we made decisions tactically which actually set up chances and there wasn’t anything overly defensive, it was a case of getting fresh legs on there.

“Everyone is quite happy to give an opinion when they know the result. We will look at the decisions we made from the opening selection to the subs but we feel we are making decisions which are right for the game at that time.

“Everyone can be a fantastic manager in hindsight but. chance-for-chance, we should have won the game.

“Rene should have scored when he hit the post, Aaron will tell you he’s disappointed he hasn’t taken his one-on-one and Rene is disappointed he has gone and scored an own-goal.

“And if you’re saying that’s tactical, then I question their knowledge of football.

“Someone said to me that when we win, it’s 30 comments on social media and when we lose, it’s 90. To be honest, I am not that bothered.

“As long as they aren’t being abusive and as long as they aren’t being slanderous, they are quite right to have their opinion on how it should have gone.

“But remember, we can all make the right decisions when we have seen what’s happened.”

Law conceded the stoppage-time equaliser represented a “killer blow” for his team, who have now taken just one point from two matches since they beat King’s Lynn on New Year’s Day.

“It’s a killer blow,” he added.

“It’s certainly two points dropped and it’s very frustrating. We have dropped major points in the last minute here.

“The opposition had no end of numbers around the 18-yard box but I thought we worked extremely hard to keep possession and ensure they didn’t get the chance to create too much.

“It’s very hard to break teams down. We did have chances but the second goal didn’t come and, as can be typical in football, they have had a sniff off a few corners and it’s come off one of our players.

“We will get back to work this week. I am sure we would be happier if we had a game on Tuesday to get back at it but we have got a tough game at Merthyr next week.

“We said there would be lots of ups and downs and now it’s a matter of how we bounce back and recover. It’s just hurting that we have given away two points in the last minute.”

As Law observed, the Poppies return to action next Saturday when they make the trip to Merthyr Town.