CARL Adams apologised to Stratford Town fans for the ‘absolute shambles’ of their midweek defeat at Dunstable Town.
The Town manager was furious at the manner of the 2-0 defeat at Creasey Park which proved a huge disappointment after the positive performance in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at home to high-flying Chesham United.
Adams is the first to admit it has been a roller-coaster season and inconsistency was inevitable in developing a young squad, but he said Tuesday’s performance was unacceptable.
“That performance was nowhere near good enough and I can only apologise to the supporters who made the trip,” said Adams. “They deserved a lot better from us.
He accepted his role in such a frustrating night but was left scratching his head at two such contrasting performances in four days.
“It’s very disappointing and I’m a part of this as well,” said Adams.
“I made the decisions to run with these lads in the rough and the smooth and so I need to stand up and be counted as well.
“I just can’t believe this team can go from a good performance against Chesham at the weekend to an absolute shambles on Tuesday night.
“The goals were no more than Sunday League morning defending.
“I take the criticism as much as the boys. I’ve made it very clear to the lads that it was an awful night for them as well.”
Adams will rally his squad to bounce back on Saturday when they head to Kings Langley, stressing the importance of a Stratford win in pushing closer to securing their Southern League Premier Division status.
Town are still ten points clear of the drop zone while Kings Langley are placed just above the bottom four and Adams believes another two wins will settle any relegation anxiety.
Stratford will be need to polish up their shooting boots after Tuesday’s defeat meant they have scored just twice in the last five matches.
On Tuesday, Town did create chances and produced some enterprising football at times but failed to capitalise.
Instead, Dunstable, having been on the defensive for the opening half an hour, went ahead on 35 minutes when Stratford goalkeeper Niall Cooper and skipper James Fry dallied over a long punt forward and Danny Talbot simply lobbed the ball into the empty net.
Talbot doubled the lead on 52 minutes but this time it was a quality move as he finished off an inviting cross from Olvkanmi Mathan.
On Saturday, Town had thoroughly deserved to go ahead against seventh placed Chesham, only to concede a late equaliser at the DCS.
Mike Taylor bagged his ninth goal of the season, heading home a Ben Stephens cross three minutes into the second half.
Taylor, Stephens and Will Grocott went close to netting a vital second but Chesham equalised 11 minutes from time when Ryan Blake beat debutant keeper Jake Weaver.
Weaver, replacing the unavailable Cooper, has joined from Birmingham City’s Development Squad.
Stratford have also extended the loan deals of Kidderminster Harriers pair George Forsyth and James Hancocks for a further month.
