Defender hoping to push on in spite of defeat
After the Grecians’ 2-1 defeat to York City, defender Scot Bennett acknowledged the need to get the points ticking over quickly after having missed out on the opportunity to leapfrog the Minstermen.
Bennett reduced the arrears after John McCombe and Michael Coulson had sent York ahead, but ultimately it sparked hopes of a comeback which never came.
City did create numerous opportunities throughout the game, but Bennett felt that it was vital to cut out the soft goals which had given the hosts a cushion to cling on to.
“I don’t think we started the game quick enough,” said Bennett. “It took us 20 or 25 minutes to build into the game, and you can’t keep giving away goals in the hope you’ll be able to claw them back. We create chances, but the chances we’re creating aren’t going to count for anything if we keep conceding sloppy goals.
“One was a deep cross to the back stick – it was a good ball and a good header, but I think we can still deal with it better. For the second one, for [Coulson] to go past two or three people like he did so easily and get a shot away, it just isn’t good enough. It isn’t good enough at this level, and it isn’t good enough at any level.
“We know that, and we need to look at ourselves again and get going, because we need to pick up points quickly.”
City return to St James Park next weekend to face Dagenham & Redbridge, and then host Northampton Town three days later on Tuesday evening.
Scot felt that there is a huge weight of importance in facing teams around them if they hope to go into the final few weeks with their minds at rest. In particular he is targeting a win against Dagenham to relieve the tension of missed chances on home turf.
“Our main objective now is to make sure we’re safe and stay in this league,” he continued. “We’ve got some massive games coming up now, including these next two at home against Dagenham and Northampton and then some of the other teams that are around us.
“We definitely need to start picking up the points against these sorts of teams, and start building a gap so that we can have a comfortable end to the season.
“If we can get that first win at home, it will take away some of that stress that we’ve built up over the last couple of months where we haven’t been able to pick up points where we need.
“The supporters do jump on us quite quickly at home, but at the same time they have got every reason to with the form we’ve been in. We haven’t been good enough at all.
“The fans are there to support us when we’re doing well, and it would be nice for them to support us when we’re doing not so well, but we can’t keep asking them to cheer us on when we’re not performing at home in the way they want us to.”
Bennett, who featured at right-back at Bootham Crescent, also reserved praise for defensive team-mate Jordan Moore-Taylor, who was the man that provided the assist for his goal.
Like the midweek game against Wycombe, Moore-Taylor was a solid and combative performer at centre-half and Bennett acknowledged the impact he has made in the last two games.
Scot continued: “Jordan has always had the potential to do well and whenever he’s been in the team, he’s never let us down – he’s done the job he’s been asked to do, and the last two games he has been excellent.
“It’s always good when you’ve got players like that in the squad that can come in and help the team out.”