By Brian Bennett | Photo: Ian Brodie
Andy Coyles was upbeat on Saturday night despite the 1-0 defeat against Workington at Woodhorn Lane.
The Colliers were not overawed by their higher status opponents but conceded ten minutes from the end.
Joint head coach Coyles commented afterwards: “We said to the lads after the game ‘don’t let the result camouflage the performance’ because we were quite pleased for the majority of the game in terms of how we conducted ourselves and how we operated as a group. We had quite a few players missing but I thought we put on a really good display and for an opening game of the season – albeit a friendly – in front of our supporters, I would think the majority of them left quite pleased and quite enthusiastic about what potentially we can do this season.”
He continued: “I thought the game was quite evenly split throughout and in the second half at 0-0 we had three or four really good clear cut chances and were just unlucky not to convert any of them. If we had scored I think it would have been a completely different game but we were getting minutes into the players to make sure they are going to be ready for next Saturday’s Emirates FA Cup tie at Shildon.”