Slimbridge Receive `Wake Up` Call

Tom Speers, manager of Pitching In Southern League Division One South club Slimbridge, said his team would use the loss of their five-game unbeaten run as a ‘wake-up call’ ahead of the last half dozen games of their season.

Slimbridge travelled to The Sports Ground to take on Bideford AFC on Saturday, and were comprehensively outplayed, conceding two first-half goals.

It took until the 6th minute of second-half stoppage time before the Swans had a shot on target, and Speers made no attempt to his disappointment at the 2-0 defeat.

“We were miles off it,” he said. “Bideford have some great attributes as a team, they work hard, they’re in your face, they fight second balls, and do all of the basics really well. That’s why they’re a really difficult team to play against, you never see them getting beaten by large scores, even by the top teams.

“It was like our boys didn’t realise what they were coming up against, we were short all over the pitch, we actually started quite well after the goal, we got the ball down and started playing it around, but we didn’t play well over the period of either half – each half was a different game because of the wind, but they had the better chances and were well worth the three points to be honest, it was really disappointing.

“I tend to find that when we have a load of games, we’re a lot better, so having had a break last weekend didn’t help us. Last time we had a break it killed us as well, but we can’t let that keep on being the same excuse. You’ve got to be ready you’ve got to be prepared, and I don’t think the players turned up prepared. We were lacklustre, and it was very, very unlike us, but you have these games, we’ve now got a run of six games, with four of them against teams who are going for the title or the playoffs, and if we turn up again like that we’re going to get rolled over.

“I want to try and take some positives from it though, and this might be a really good wake-up call, we’ll get a good week of training, and let’s put it to bed. Every team has these games, but these are games that I feel that where we are in our development as a club, we should be at a minimum taking a point from games like this. It was really disappointing to let ourselves down. But we go again, and we move on to Saturday and Parkway…..”

Meanwhile, Jack Plant, Jacob Rodgers and Romaine Campbell have signed Southern League forms for the club.

Rodgers and Campbell have progressed from the Swans` under-18s, and Plant was registered with Uhlsport Hellenic League Premier Division side Longlevens, and also plays for Gloucester University.

Tim Blake

Slimbridge Web Site