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MANAGER'S COLUMN
Paul Doswell says that he takes the blame for the two late goals that resulted in what he felt was a harsh scoreline at Wealdstone on Tuesday. ''Once we'd gone two down we decided that we had to do everything we could to get back in to the game, so we changed to 3-4-3 and went for it. It didn't work, and we lost our shape as a result, which meant they were able to get the two late goals, so I'll take the blame for that but I felt the final score was harsh on us and I didn't feel the performance was as bad as the one at Tooting.'' It was a difficult night from start to finish for U's, with unexpected changes required before the kick off. ''Chukki Eribenne went to Wealdstone's old ground, and Matt Hann's accountancy exam, which we thought would finish at 6.00, didn't finish until 7.00, so we had to make two changes as both would have started the game. The facilities were very poor, with a tiny dressing room, and we emphasised to the players how it would be a similar game to the one at Tooting and we didn't want people thinking we’re a soft touch away from home, and until they scored I thought we'd stood up to it well.'' Paul is convinced that we should have been in front at half time. ''I thought we scored a perfectly good goal – Gavin McCallum got to the ball before the goalkeeper, and even their bench were saying that they thought they'd got away with it. I think 1-0 to us would have been about right at half time because Delando Smith was beginning to get in to the wide areas and we were looking dangerous.'' The game changed with Wealdstone defender Alan Massey scoring twice in five minutes early in the second half. 'I don't think there was much we could have done defensively about the first one – it was a fantastic strike and sometimes you just have to give credit where it's due. The second one came about because one of our strikers was lazy and allowed the centre back to get in front of him, but after that you again have to say that the Maradona style 1-2s and the finish were excellent. And even though we were going for it after that and left spaces at the back, I think Wealdstone still deserve credit for the way they played in the last half hour.'' The evening finished on a sour note, with Dean Palmer being reported by referee David Belbin following an incident with a home supporter as the players left the field. ''The players had taken all sorts of abuse during the game and been called things that you can’t put on a website,'' Paul said, ''and there can't be many grounds where a team beaten 4-0 would be met by that sort of reception when they came off. Unfortunately Dean reacted to the abuse, and we'll have to deal with that. It just about summed up the evening, but, as with Tooting, Wealdstone have got to come to us later in the season so hopefully we’ll be able to make amends then.’’
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