Sleaford boss Evans unhappy after opening day defeat
Matt Evans lamented a poor start to Sleaford’s opening game of the season as the key to the 3-1 defeat at home to Swallownest.
The Greens were beginning life in the United Counties League Division One after relegation last season, captain Jonathan Timmins scoring the hosts’ only goal just after the hour mark.
But three first-half goals for Swallownest had preceded that and Evans told the club’s media that he was disappointed with the start his side made to the game.
He said: “We lost the game in the first 25 minutes. It just wasn’t right and one error led to another.
"At half-time we asked for a reaction and to reset and to be better, and that was certainly the case in the last ten minutes of the first-half and during the second-half after that nightmare start.
“In the dugout we could sense some nerves and tension amongst the players. We’re not sure why, perhaps it being the first time the lads had been out here in front of a crowd, but they’ll learn from it and Swallownest are a good side too and I like the way they play.
"We needed to be more proactive in the second-half as we’d felt we’d been second to everything, and in the end we hit the bar and had good chances that could have got us to 3-3 and it would have been a different story.”
Sleaford were due to go to Rainworth Miners Welfare on Tuesday night, after this week’s Standard had gone to press, with the Notts side having lost their opener 7-0 at the weekend.
They then go to Sandiacre Town on Saturday before hosting Southwell City next Tuesday night.
Evans said: “The games come thick and fast – we’ll have played ten competitive games by the end of August – so we haven’t got time to mope around or rest on our laurels.
"We’ll have three or four lads back with us having missed Saturday so that will freshen things up in the squad.”