Dennis Greene column: Poor finishing made for a nervy finish

WE SHOULD have had Saturday’s game won by half time, and in the end it turned into a bit of a nervy game.

WE SHOULD have had Saturday’s game won by half time, and in the end it turned into a bit of a nervy game.

Though we didn’t look like losing it, a single bad decision from the referee or a bit of bad luck can cost you.

Their manager was getting frustrated in the first half, and he obviously got stuck into them at half time, because they came out fired up in the second half.

I don’t think that their penalty should have been given, as Des Byrne just had the ball fizzed at his arm from a few yards away – a case of ball to hand, and not hand to ball.

Hughesy tucked away the first penalty for us, and he’s been excellent from the spot this season. He’s scored a few in pre-season, and three already in four league games. That tells you how much we are getting forward and playing in the opposition’s box. Seven penalties in eight games is no fluke.

With the second one, I think there was a bit of kidology involved. Hughesy and the Deeping keeper are pals, so I think there was a lot of second-guessing going on – the keeper knew which side Rob favours, and then Rob changed his mind late on. As a result he didn’t hit the corner as usual and it was a good height for the keeper to save.

Deeping kept going until the end and, as we’ll find a lot of teams this year, I think it was their cup final. Teams are going to be raising their games against us, and getting more fired up than usual, so we have to be ready for that. We can’t use that as an excuse, because that’s going to be the case for the other teams at the top of the league too – everyone wants to beat them.

We’ve got Brantham Athletic in the FA Cup this Saturday, and though it looks like a game we should win comfortably, you can’t take anything for granted. I’ll watch them in midweek, because although they’ve not had a great start to the season, they will raise their game for the FA Cup.