JASON Matthews admitted his side “froze and lost a little bit of quality” when given the man advantage in their defeat at Chippenham Town.
Having had Rhys Baggridge sent off around the hour mark at Hardenhuish Park with the score at 0-0, the Bluebirds went on to beat Weymouth 2-0 with second-half goals from Matt Smith and David Pratt, despite being a player light for a third of the game.
Giving his reaction after the defeat, the Terras’ player-manager told Echosport: “Obviously we got the man advantage but I felt that we probably froze and lost a little bit of quality and they took their only two chances of the game.
“Having to change their system seemed to work for them but I feel we lost our quality on the ball when they did go down to 10, which is disappointing.
“We went for the win (at 0-0) but we lost our quality, gave the ball away in the wrong areas and got punished and that’s what can happen when you play against top strikers.
“We had the lion’s share of the game but I say that every week, we need to convert some of our positive play into goals and wins.”
Matthews’ side was ravaged by injury ahead of the encounter – an issue that he tried to address having been extremely limited in his defensive options.
“Ashley Wells is ill, Chris Allen was unavailable and Calvin (Brooks) had a back spasm, which ruled him out,” he added.
“Tiago Sa rolled his ankle on Saturday so he was unavailable and Mark Cooper is looking at another three weeks out with his hamstring.
“We went into the game without a recognised full-back.”
He continued: “We did sign Sam Clarke on a dual registration but he could not get out of work on time.
“He was going to try and play but had to cry off at the eleventh hour.”
