DEJECTED Jason Matthews held his hands up and admitted his side’s defeat against Hitchin was “the poorest home performance since I have been in charge”.
The Terras’ chief, who prior to kick-off had described the game as “must-win” for his charges, came away empty-handed as goals from Matt Lench and Alasan Ann gave the Canaries a 2-0 win at the Bob Lucas Stadium, further boosting their own promotion hopes in the process.
Reacting to the reverse, Matthews told Echosport: “A few draws before the game made it a must-win and on Saturday we didn’t perform.
“They were a very good side and did a very good job on us, you have to take the rough with the smooth.
“I felt they pressed the ball better than us and, with a strong wind against us in the first half, we didn’t get it out, we tried to play it out our way and it didn’t come off.
“I have never known so many of what I class as good players make so many bad decisions.
“It was probably the poorest home performance since I have been in charge but I am not going to take anything away from Hitchin and I’m not going to make any excuses for us.
“Our passing wasn’t good enough and, overall, we got beaten by a better side.”
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The Terras’ poor display brought a negative reaction from some of the home fans, with a small chorus of boos ringing out on the final whistle.
However, Matthews also believed that he could hear some negativity earlier in the game.
He added: “Obviously at the end I can take that on the chin but, with 20 minutes gone, when you’re kicking against a gale force wind and you’ve got people from one side of the ground that are booing, how do they expect to bring a positive shake on the team? I find it quite unbelievable really.
“At the end of the game I totally accept it but I think a few people need to be a little bit realistic at this club.
“The fans are frustrated and they echo it onto the pitch at times. It would be quite nice if they did actually get behind us.”
Without a win in four league games, Weymouth now sit eighth in the Evo-Stik Southern Premier Division standings, two points off the play-off spots.
But Matthews is still backing his troops to rally and find the form he insists they are capable of.
“I fully believe that we can turn it around and we are still not far off it,” he added.
“People are taking points off each other all over the place and it’s up to us to get our own house in order.”
