Holleran Said Gowling Was Outstanding For Hereford

In his post match interview after last night's game, Leamington manager Paul Holleran said that Josh Gowling, pictured above, was outstanding for Hereford.

"It was quite an advantage to be fair kicking towards the Harbury Lane End in the first half as there was quite a strong breeze which helps us pin teams in a little bit, but we were really bright and lively. With the suspensions and injuries we’ve got we’ve had to throw a few people in tonight and they’ve done well - Stephan in his first game for us was excellent and Reece, considering he hasn’t played a lot of football, looked really bright and lively," said Holleran as reported by the Leamington OS.

"We really put them on the back foot first half and we’ve got into the final third in good areas time and time again, and we’ve got good quality into the box, but whether it’s a case that we haven’t been clinical enough, they’ve defended really well - Gowling was outstanding for them tonight - and possibly the difference between the first half and the start of the second half is that on a night like tonight when there’s decent quality set plays going in from both sides, we just haven’t got that second or third phase, that little drop in the first half, and they did straight away in the second. So the disappointing thing then is that you could see that they stepped up the pitch a bit more in the second half and asked a few questions of us, but it’s two set plays, that’s what we’ll ultimately be disappointed with.

"Five minutes after the restart in the second half it’s a straight ball into the box which we should do better with, and then the long throw, it’s that second or third phase, that one I’m on about where there’s that many bodies there you’re hoping one of your players reads it and you clear your lines.

"It’s difficult when you’re two nil down against a good side, and the elements against you. We looked a bit leggy as well after Saturday. It’s been a frustrating night for us but we’ve done alright as well for long periods, especially in the first half when we were excellent and there were lots of good individual performances, and we put a really good side on the back foot for long periods as well, but like the Farsley game we’ve got to take our chances when they come along because with the quality they’ve got and their quality off the bench they’re always going to ask questions of you, but from open play we’ve dealt pretty well to be fair."