Holleran enjoys the high life after being down and out

Dumped out of the FA Cup by lower-league Daventry Town on Saturday, Holleran admitted he barely slept over the weekend as he tried to get to the bottom of another lacklustre away performance.

However, three days later, his Brakes side put in a performance he labelled “as good as it has been in my time at the club” to come away from Chippenham with three points.

It is a turnaround Holleran still struggles to explain, but after the murmurings of discontent at the Communications Stadium, he said it was one the players owed the fans.

“The fans turned up at Daventry in numbers and played their part,” said Holleran. “So to put in a performance which was a million miles from where it should have been was disappointing. I’m not lying when I say I didn’t get much sleep on Saturday and Sunday.

“That’s as low as I’ve been since I’ve been here and you can’t always put your finger on why we were so flat, so many players were off it and we made so many bad decisions.

“It was not acceptable and the players know that, but sometimes you can get that in the FA Cup.

“It shouldn’t happen, but as I said to the players, it was like pre-season tempo. We played slowly and it played into Daventry’s hands.

“It was a great chance to progress and we didn’t do it.

“I don’t feel sorry for myself. I feel sorry for the supporters that turned up.

“In all the clubs I’ve been at - and I’ve got to the FA Cup first round twice - I’ve never seen the fans turn up in numbers like that, with the support and all the flags. You couldn’t fault it.

“So to walk off knowing we’d let so many people down was hard.”

A fiercely contrasting performance at Hardenhuish Park on Tuesday night saw Brakes take a deserved two-goal lead thanks to strikes from David Kolodynski and Craig Owen.

The dismissal of James Mace meant it was backs to the wall for the last 25 minutes.

But, despite Chippenham pulling a goal back, Brakes hung on for the three points to send their 70-strong travelling army home happy.

“In a way, Chippenham was the perfect game to have on Tuesday night,” said Holleran.

“I’ve never won there in 13 years and had some good hidings.

“But it was a complete turnaround. For 70 minutes the quality of the football was as good as it has been in my time at the club.

“In three days I’ve gone from my lowest point to one of my highest.”

With two successive home matches coming up, the first of which sees Brakes entertain big-spending Brackley tomorrow, a difficult opening to the campaign could conclude with Brakes firmly ensconsed in the Premier Division play-off positions.

However, Holleran knows his side will have to maintain the standards they set at Chippenham to put together back-to-back league victories.

“If Brackley perform, they are the best team in the league, but like us they have struggled with consistency.

“We’re aware they’ve got players who are a real threat.

“But we are glad we had the game and the performance at Chippenham and it has put us in great spirits for what will be a really tough game.”