BRINKLOW FC MANAGER EDWIN GREAVES MULLS OVER THE 1-3 DEFEAT TO STOCKTON...

EDWIN REVEALS HIS NEW SIGNING...

"This game, on the back of a defeat on Tuesday night took on added importance.

We had lost our previous 2 games and Stockton had won their previous 2, so this game was always going to be difficult for us.

The game itself showed the 2 sides of my team at the current time.

In the 1st half we found ourselves 1-0 down on 9 minutes after conceading a needless penalty. We didn't cave in and were competitive in every area of the pitch. We got ourselves level after 16 minutes with some good work from Jordan and Ben, with Blake scoring from close range.

After that there was nothing between the two sides until the 31stminute when a back post header from a corner gave Stockton a 2-1 lead at half-time.

The 2nd half we never reached the same standards and our workrate and team play suffered accordingly.

Again we were our own worst enemies in the 57th minute when a defensive clearance found a Stockton player, who was brought down in the box for Stockton's 2nd penalty of the game, to make the score 3-1.

We lost our heads a little as the game slipped out of our reach and we were very lucky to finish the game with a full quota of players.

In summing up this game: the 1st half was what I am looking for in my team. We worked hard, played some great football and were unlucky to only score the 1 goal.

However we made 2 mistakes got punished for both and went in at half-time unlucky to be behind.

The 2nd half Stockton were by far the better team. We struggled to reach the standards we set in the 1st half, created very little and lost our discipline towards the end of the game. 

Having said that, we still only conceded from another penalty.

I have no complaints with the result as we didn't do enough over 90 minutes to get anything out of this game.

Best of luck to all at Stockton for the remainder of the season.

The players have been excellent for me this season, their attitude to learn and become better players has been first class. I have said before and I will say again, this squad of players are a good squad of players and we are almost there.

Our downfall at the moment is that in the last 2 games we have made individual mistakes and have been punished accordingly.

We have now played Peugeot, Woodlands and Stockton and lost all 3 games.

Our performances in each game have been better and we are getting closer to where I need this team to be. Massive positives for me today were the young players brought in to do a job.

Some of them have been put into the 1st team a little earlier than I would have liked, however they have been working hard in training and their performances in previous friendlies deserved to be rewarded.

Alex Day, Daniel Hood and Morgan Pulford are all just 17 years of age and Connor Tallett 18 years of age, but all have bags of talent and bright futures ahead of them.

The future is looking bright for Brinklow, however it's the here and now that I have to deal with.

On to the next game now..."

Edwin Greaves, Manager, Brinklow FC; frustrated, sad, probably needing a stiff brandy...