We lacked killer instinct, says Witton boss (From Northwich Guardian)

Witton Albion manager blames lack of ruthlessness for letting slip a lead at Buxton

10:05pm Saturday 1st September 2012 in Sport By Andrew Simpson, Senior Sports Writer

BRIAN Pritchard told his team they need to be ruthless after taking the lead in matches at a higher level.

Witton drew a third successive since their return to the Premier Division after letting slip a two-goals lead at Buxton, who rescued a point after scoring twice in eight minutes.

“We let them off the hook,” said the Albion boss afterwards.

“It’s a hard lesson, but we’ll need to learn to kill off teams when we’re on top in matches.”

Goals from Josh Hancock and Rory Fallon left the visitors in control after an hour but, like last week at Worksop, they had to share the spoils come full time.

Pritchard said he players had not been street-wise.

He added: “We didn’t temper that natural enthusiasm to score more goals.

“Maybe we need to look at how we react to going 2-0 up; I thought psychologically we stopped being disciplined after the second goal.

“A couple of individuals continued to be gung-ho, and we were caught out.

“It’s frustrating because we had a lot of chances, but I’ve got to give credit to Buxton as well. They could have fallen apart, but instead they dug deep.

 

“I’m concerned that for the first time this season we lacked energy in the second half, which allowed them to stretch us.”

He was upbeat though that Witton’s unbeaten run on the road in league matches, now at 16, remains intact.

Nobody has beaten Albion this term either.

He added: “That gives us encouragement.”

Opposite number Martin McIntosh was happy with the hosts’ recovery.

“We must have looked dead and buried at 2-0 down, but the character we showed was outstanding,” he said afterwards.

“A draw is a good result for us and it’s probably a fair one too.”

To read a match report, click here http://bit.ly/N5GSw9