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  • 5 months ago
INTERVIEW: Aberystwyth Town manager Callum McKenzie gives his verdit on 3-1 defeat at Cardiff Draconians
Transcript
00:00I thought we weren't good enough in the first half, or maybe the first 20-25 minutes of the first half.
00:07They started really well, in fairness to them.
00:10We gave away a sloppy goal.
00:12It's something we talked about. We knew the pitch was going to be tight and bobbly.
00:16We talked about not taking too many touches, particularly in our first third of the pitch.
00:21We just got caught making the wrong decisions in the first 20 minutes.
00:26They gave the ball away and they've punished us.
00:29I thought I had a really good spell for 15 or 20 minutes after that.
00:34Then we tweaked the shape a little bit. I thought the game settled down.
00:38Slowly but surely, we worked ourselves back into it without really testing the keeper as much as we maybe should have.
00:45I thought we had a lot of good situations around their box, but with no end product.
00:50That's something we've got to improve.
00:53The second half, I thought we were, again I seem to be saying this in other weeks as well, where we've been sloppy in the first half and then come out in the second half and started really brightly.
01:04I think they've scored against the run of play.
01:06Then we've got our first one and then we're really on top of them.
01:10We had a sense that we had the momentum behind us and then obviously Starr's got sent off, which is ridiculous and really stupid.
01:19Then we've given ourselves a mountain to climb, but in fairness to the players that were on the pitch, they've rolled their sleeves up, they've tried really hard.
01:27We've created one or two chances even with ten men, but we couldn't find the back of the net and we seem to be lacking a bit of devil in the final third at the moment.
01:37Like you say, it was a really frustrating day.
01:39Looking ahead to the next game, we've got Cumberland Celtic at home, obviously a chance then to bounce back.
01:43We've got Deshawn Martin coming back, Jonathan Evans also available, so how do you think we're shaping up for that game as well?
01:49Yeah, listen, it'd be obviously a boost to have Dish and Johnny back, it means we can play a couple of players back to where they usually play.
01:57We've played Dylan Downs in midfield today because we were one down in there and Johnny will give us some energy up front, which is something we've been lacking in the first part of the season.
02:07They're two good, well-established players at the Premier level really, so they're going to boost any team in our league.
02:14But the players must be better, you know, if we want to finish where we want to try and finish this year, we've got to try and come to places like this and you've got to roll your sleeves up at times and grit it out.
02:23And I just felt, we talked about it on Tuesday a lot, about the way we approached the game.
02:27I could hear one or two conversations when I arrived today about the pitch and the changing rooms and absolute nonsense, they've got to be better than that.
02:35And, you know, as I say, credit to Cardiff Drax, I thought they were really good in the first half.
02:40It would have been interesting to see what would have happened if we'd stayed at 11 v 11, but, you know, it wasn't to be.
02:46And a quick move for Zach McKenzie, new man who looked bright today. What are your thoughts on his performance?
02:50I thought he looked really good. He'd be a real asset, I think, particularly at home. Big pitches. He looked really athletic. He's very good in the air.
02:58And, you know, a lot of the good moments that came in the second half were from him down that right hand side and delivering good balls in the box.
03:06And listen, on another day, we probably could have scored two or three if we'd been a bit brighter and alert in the box, but we weren't.
03:13We weren't. But yeah, he was certainly a bright point from today.
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