Wins take blame for recent defeats (10.10.02)

ALAN DEVONSHIRE has responded to recent criticisms over Maidenhead United’s early exit from the FA Cup with a plea for patience, claiming his players were victims of their own success.
Last week, club chairman Roger Coombs spoke of his frustration and disappointment after his team surrendered a 1-0 lead to sink to a 2-1 defeat against Welling United.
Not that United played badly. In fact they played quite well, right up until the final five minutes, when they dropped back and conceded two late goals.
Devonshire explained: “I understand Roger’s frustration with the result but it wasn’t through lack of effort.
“We actually played quite well until the last few minutes. We didn’t mean to drop back. They pressed us back and we faltered a bit when we needed five more minutes of concentration.
“I was gutted and the players were gutted.”
However, the loss was made even harder to bear as it was sandwiched between two league defeats to Hitchin and Grays Athletic.
Asked to explain United’s recent dip in form, Devonshire said it was partly the result of his side’s impressive start to the season.
He said: “Maybe the boys got a bit over confident and we can’t afford to do that.
“We have to respect every team we play, because in this league everyone can beat each other.
“Yes, we’ve had a bad patch but it hasn’t been a disaster.
“We’ve lost two of our last league games. That’s the bottom line.
“The boys may be lacking a bit of confidence now, but we know what we need to do. It’s just a matter of getting the right balance.”
Tomorrow (Saturday) United face a difficult trip to Aylesbury for their rearranged league clash.