Holleran rues missed chances as Trophy romp proves one-off

Leamington went into the Southern Premier League fixture buoyed by a 6-1 mauling of Barwell in the FA Trophy on Saturday.

However, the clinical finishing that was a feature of the Trophy win was markedly absent as the hosts spurned several good chances against the Lilywhites before succumbing to the sucker punch.

And Holleran said his side cannot afford to keep throwing points away if they are to sustain their title challenge.

“For an hour we played as well as we have done in the league all season,” said Holleran.

“Jamie Tank has slipped and they’ve had one chance and scored.

“But after half-time we’ve had three or four really good chances.

“Ben Mackey’s gone round the keeper, we’ve missed from three yards and we should have had a penalty.

“We’ve got to 90 minutes at 1-1 and although it’s not what we wanted we should take it.

“It’s our corner but it’s poor execution.

“Their strikers have had two shots in 90 minutes and scored twice.

“It was pretty similar to Paulton and Redditch in that we’ve played well and got nothing out of it.

“We can’t keep letting teams off the hook.”

Tomorrrow’s home clash with Cirencester Town will be Brakes’ 24th fixture of a congested campaign, with a Red Insure Cup clash at home to Bedworth on Tuesday ensuring there is little respite for a threadbare squad.

With first-choice full-backs Connor Gudger and Ben George ruled out due to injury and a host of other niggles, Holleran knows reinforcements are crucial, admitting “we’ve got to support the players and freshen things up”.

However, he said he could not fault his current crop of players’ work ethic.

“The level of performances are where they need to be.

“We’ve lost that cushion that we had over the chasing teams.

“Now the aim is to set out on another run and I’m sure the players will bounce back.”