Manager Paul Cox believes our team ‘lacked bravery’ in our 2-2 draw at AFC Telford United.
Lee Beevers fired us ahead with a freak goal after 11 minutes, before an own-goal from centre-back Ryan Tafazolli and a strike from Richard Davies helped the hosts gain a narrow lead.
Jake Speight levelled from the penalty spot before the interval, but we were unable to find a winning goal despite playing against ten men for the entire second half, after Liam Chilvers was sent-off on his home debut.
“I think we have to look at today as two points lost,” admitted Cox, who was speaking shortly after the final whistle.
“We looked very anxious at times and I’ve told the players that they need to relax a bit more. It’s like the ball is a potato and the players want to get rid of it as quickly as possible.
“You can’t have a go at our work ethic today, but ultimately it was one of those games where we needed to be a bit braver with our decision making.”
After an eventful first 45 minutes, our boss opted to change from a 3-4-1-2 formation and instead deploy a 4-4-2 formation in the second period, a tactical decision that Cox explained was intended to help us find a winner.
He continued: “We wanted to get the ball wide more in the second period, which is why we brought on Lindon Meikle and Louis Briscoe.”
“I thought we had the ball in some good areas in and around their box, but our decision making was a massive decider on the final result. We just need to learn to relax.”
One of the major talking points of the game arose only minutes prior to half-time when Chilvers received a straight red card after he was judged to have fouled Speight inside the area.
The decision from referee Brett Huxtable left Bucks boss Andy Sinton seething, though Cox believes the decision to award a spot-kick was the correct one.
“I’d like to look at the DVD to see the incident again, but I believe there was contact,” said Cox.
“Jake Speight was in a good goal scoring position and I thought he would go on and finish it off anyway. Referees have a tough job and ultimately their decisions are the only ones that matter.”
Our next game in the Blue Square Bet Premier is on Tuesday night when we travel to Moss Rose to lock horns with Macclesfield Town (kick-off 7.45pm).
