TONY Carr admitted his disappointment after seeing a six game
winning run come to an end with a 2-1 defeat by Fulham at Little
Heath. But the Academy Director did concede that at half-time the
game could have gone either way.
He said: "At half-time it was pretty even. We had created
chances and so had they. I said to the boys at half-time that the
game could go either way.
"Obviously the first goal was always going to be crucial in
terms of which way the game was going to go. We were disappointed
to give it away in the manner that we did.
"I'll have to analyse it further, but it didn't look
like the wall was lined up well. It was also disappointing to give
away the penalty. James Tomkins and Liam White did very well again
and they have both had good seasons.
"But Liam just lost his concentration for a bit, brought down
their player and the referee awarded a penalty.
"After the second goal we dragged ourselves back into it. We
played better after we had gone two behind, but the problem was
that we didn't start well enough in the second-half.
"The game was there for us to win, but we didn't do enough
to win it."
Tony also admitted that his side may have suffered after their
exploits in winning through to the Fourth Round of the FA Youth Cup
just three days before their clash with Fulham.
He added: "I think there was a little bit of that. The boys
got themselves really up for the FA Youth Cup and then having to
play so soon after was difficult.
"Without wanting to make excuses there was an element of that.
But the players have got to learn to deal with those kind of
situations.
"We've had it before over the years and you just have to
get on with the job. Losing to Fulham was a set-back in our bid to
catch Southampton, but we have to keep going in the League and
focus on our next game at Millwall."
Tony Reflects On Fulham
5th December 2005