Sleaford Town's Jamie Shaw bemoans double defeats over festive period
NAIVETY was to blame for Sleaford Town's demise in their latest pair of defeats in the United Counties League Premier Division, according to their assistant manager.
Jamie Shaw cited a lack of concentration as the reason for their 2-1 losses to Boston Town and Yaxley.
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TIME TO GET WISE: Sleaford’s assistant player manager Jamie Shaw (right) blamed naivety for Town’s recent two defeats. Picture: Lee Blake.
Shaw watched on from the sidelines at Eslaforde Park on Boxing Day as Town slumped to defeat against their local rivals Boston.
Glen Maddison's side had been on a run of three consecutive victories, which made the defeats all the harder to take for Shaw.
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"We had a decent run of home games, with three wins without playing particularly well," he said.
"Unfortunately we have undone all that hard work with some very naive play and giving soft goals away.
"They left us feeling very disappointed.
"This is a tough league though, and there are no games we would expect to win."
In their contest with the Poachers, the winning goal was struck in the 99th-minute after some poor defending allowed the visitors to strike from a set-piece.
"The first-half in the Boston match was a bit of a non-event," said Shaw.
"The conditions were horrible and not a lot of attractive football was being played to be honest.
"In the second half we were a better side and began to create a little bit more.
"It was just unfortunate that a bit of naivety led to us conceding a 99th-minute winning goal.
"There was a long free-kick drifted into our penalty box, their target man headed it down and we never reacted to the second ball.
"After the game the boys' heads were down about the result.
"To have worked that hard for the match and come away with nothing was very disappointing.
"The fact it was Boston made it all the harder to accept."
The results leave Sleaford fifth from bottom in the league table with a visit from Desborough Town on the cards this Saturday (3pm).
The Northamptonshire club will face the unenviable task of marking Sleaford's goal machine Liam Tunstall.
Last season's top goalscorer was the subject of a seven-day approach from Boston Town last month, but Shaw says that was never an issue during their Boxing Day encounter.
"Liam wasn't sparkling because we weren't providing him with the right type of service," said Shaw.
"Liam's a strong-minded lad and doesn't let that kind of attention from outside the club affect him.
"He got on with the job in hand and tried his hardest, as he does every week.
"We know how good he is, he knows where the goal is and we want to keep hold of that great ability."
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